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LIVES 



JOHN JAY 



ALEXANDER 




L T N. 



-YORK: 

PUBLISW^ «3r HARPER & BROTHERS, 
N O.^^ CLIFF-STREET, 



1841. 




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840, by 

Harper & Brothers, 

In the Clerli's Office of the Southern District of New-York. 



CONTENTS. 



Life of John Jay. 

Pago 

Preface .11 

CHAPTER I. 

French origin of the Family of Jay. — Brief 
Memoir of his immediate Ancestors. — His 
Birth and early Education. — He enters Co- 
lumhia College, and graduates with Honour. 
•'—He studies Law, and is admitted to its 
Practice. — He is appointed Secretary to the 
Commission for running the Boundary be- 
tween JYew-Jersey and JYew-York. — He 
marries 13 

CHAPTER n. 

Committee of Correspondence appointed hy 
the Citizens of Mew-York. — Jay is chosen 
a Member. — Proposal for a General Con- 
gress. — Jay is elected a Delegate to the first 
General Congress. — Address of Congress to 
the People of England. — Provisional Con- 
gress of JYew-York. — Commencement of 
Hostilities. — Appeal of Congress to the In- 
habitants of Canada. — Declaration hy Con- 



IV CONTENTS. 

Page 

gress of the Causes for taking up Arms. — 
Petition of Congress to the King of Great 
Britain, — Moral Consequences of this Pe- 
tition. — Jay is named a Colonel of Infantry, 
— Overtures of the French Government. — 
Measures for the repression of the Tories.- — 
Manifesto of Congress hi relation to Pri- 
vateers. — Convention in JYew-York for 
the formation of a Constitution. — First 
Draught of that Constitution hy Jay. — 
Reflections on the Character of that In- 
strument 26 

CHAPTER m. 

Council of Safety of the State of J^ew-York, 
— Appeal to the Inhabitants of Try cm Coun- 
ty. — Jay is named Chief-justice of JYew- 
York. — Visit of Washington to Jay. — 
Scheme for the Conquest of Canada. — Jay 
returns as a Delegate to Congress, and re- 
signs his seat on the Bench. — He is chosen 
President of Congress. — He is appointed 
Ambassador to Spain.— He sails on that 
Mission. — He is driven by Stress of Weath- 
er into Martinique. — He re-embarks, and 
lands at Cadiz. — He is invited to Madrid, 
but not formally received. — Question in re- 
lation to the Right of navigating the Mis- 
sissippi. — Draughts of Congress upon Jay, 



CONTENTS. V 

Page 

and Difficulties to which he is exposed in 
consequence. — Jay is named a Commission- 
er to negotiate a Treaty w^'th Great Britain. 
— Impolitic and humiliating Instructions to 
the Commissioners 45 

CHAPTER IV. 

JVegotiations at Paris for a general Peace, — 
Jay^s Acts as Commissioner on the part of 
the United States. — Attempt of the French 
Ministry to control the Commissioners, 
which is frustrated hy Jay. — He communi- 
cates with the British Ministry through Mr. 
Vaughan. — Preliminary Articles agreed 
upon between the United States and Eng- 
land. — Jay is offered the Embassy to Eng- 
land. — A general Peace concluded . . .63 

CHAPTER V. 

Jay visits London. — He is taken ill, and com- 
pelled to have recourse to the Bath Waters, 
— Delays attending the audit of his Ac- 
counts. — He embarks for the United States, 
and lands at JVew-York. — His distinguish- 
ed Reception by the Inhabitants of that City, 
— He is chosen Secretary of Foreign Af- 
fairs by Congress, and elected a Delegate 
from the State of JVew-York. — He negoti- 
ates with the Spanish Minister. — Hostili- 
A2 



VI CONTENTS. 



Page 



ties commenced hy Algiers, and Report of 
Mr. Jay on the subject. — He is assailed hy 
Littlepage, and vindicates himself triumph- 
antly. — He is chosen President of the Abo- 
lition Society. — Failure of the JYegotiation 
with Spain, and Beport of Mr. Jay on the 
siibject. — His Report on the F7'ontier Posts, 
on the Slaves retained by Great Britain, 
and the collection of Debts by British sub- 
jects 74 

CHAPTER VI. 

Jay^s Opinions of the inefficiency of the Con- 
federation. — Origin of the Federal Party, 
— He is elected a Member of the Episcopal 
Convention — Acts of that Convention. — 
Convention at Annapolis. — Jay^s Corre- 
spondence with Washington in relatio7i to 
a Federal Union. — Convention at Philadel- 
phia, and adoption of the Federal Con- 
stitution. — Jay is associated with Hamilton 
and Madison in the publication of " The 
Federalist.'' — The Doctors' Mob in Mew- 
York. — State Convention in JVew-York. — 
The Federal Constitution goes into effect, 
and Jay is named Chief -justice of the Su- 
preme Court. — He holds the first Court.-^ 
His Charge to the Grand Jury. — He is 
nominated as candidate for Governor of the 



CONTENTS. Vll 

-'" ' Page 

State of JVew-York, and his Election is 
defeated. — Public expressions of Dissatis- 
faction at that result. — Jay's Decision that 
a State might be sued. — Amendment of the 
Constitution in consequence. — Refections 
on that Decision 89 

CHAPTER Vn. 

Question of JYeutrality in the War between 
France and Englarid. — Washington's Proc- 
lamation. — Arrival of Genet. — Attempt 
at fitting out French Privateers. — Jay^s 
Charge to the Grand Jury at Richmond. — 
Aggressions of Great Britain. — Washing- 
ton determines to send a special Minister 
to England, and selects Jay for the purpose, 
— Jay proceeds to London. — His JYegoti- 
ations with Lord Gi'enville. — He concludes 
a Treaty. — Loud Dissatisfaction expressed 
by the anti-Federal Party. — Treaty ratified 
by the President and Senate. — Its Provis- 
ions approved by the House of Representa^ 
tives. — Merits of Jay's Treaty, and com^ 
parison of it with that negotiated by Mr. 
Monroe 104 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Jay is elected Governor of Jfew-York during 
his Absence in Europe, — Appearance of 



VIU CONTENTS. 

Page 

the Yellow Fever in the City ofJYew-York, 
— Jay recommends a Day of Thanksgiving 
on its disappearance. — Question in rela- 
tion to the Appointing Power. — Change in 
Criminal Punishments. — Law enforcing 
the Observance of the Sabbath. — Jay is 
again elected Governor. — Unanimity of 
Parties on the subject of Defence. — Passage 
of the Abolition Law.—-Jay^s Firmness in 
the Execution of the Laws. — Legislature 
in opposition to the Governor. — The Ques- 
tion in relation to the Appointing Power re- 
newed. — Jay adjourns the Council of Ap- 
pointment. — Decision of this Question and 
its consequences. — Jay is ojfered a Reap- 
pointment as Chief-justice of the United 
States. — He declines to be a Candidate for 
re-election as Governor, and retires from 
Office 119 

CHAPTER IX. 

Jay^s mode of Life in his Retirement at Bed- 
ford. — Loss of his Wife. — His Independ- 
ence of Character. — His Exertions in the 
cause of Abolition. — He is chosen an Officer 
of the Bible Society. — His Opinion on the 
Missouri Question. — He is struck by the 
Palsy. — His Death. — His Charade)' fur- 
ther developed 133 



contents. ix 

Life of Alexander Hamilton. 

Page 

Preface 147 

CHAPTER I. 

Birth and Parentage of Alexander Hamilton, 
— He enters a Counting-house in St. Croix, 
— He proceeds to JYew-York for his Edu- 
cation, and enters King's College. — His 
Distinction as a Student, and as a Writer 
of Political Papers. — He makes his appear- 
ance as a Speaker in Popular Assemblies, 
— His Success as an Orator. — He studies 
Military Tactics, and receives a Commis- 
sion in the JVew-York Line. — His Services 
in the Campaign of 1776. — He accepts the 
appointment of Aid-de-camp to Washing- 
ton 149 

CHAPTER n. 

Washington at his zenith of Popularity. — 
Character of the Relations between Ham- 
ilton and Washington. — Review of the 
Campaign of 1776. — Campaign of 1777. 
— Failure of its most Important Objects, 
— Causes of that Failure, and Reflections . 160 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

Page 

Influences which were brought to bear against 
Washington. — Lee looked up to as a Leader. 
— Gates brought forward in that Capacity. 
— Accession of Mifflin. — Jicts of Congress. 
■—Their probable Motives. — State of the 
Public Mind. — Cessation of active War- 
fare in the JVorth. — Hamilton resigns his 
Station of Aid-de-camp. — Views of the 
British Government 172 

CHAPTER IV. 

Consider atiom on the Origin of the Revolu- 
tion. — Effects of the earlier Measures of 
Passive Resistance. — Emission of Bills of 
Credit by Cmigress. — Consequence of that 
Measure. — Decay of Public Credit. — State 
of Fijumcial Affairs. — Hamilton proposes 
a JVational Bank as a Remedy .... 182 

CHAPTER V. 

Hamilton corresponds loith Duane. — Second 
Letter to Morris, and his Reply. — First 
proposition for a Convention to establish a 
Federative Republic. — Reflections on State 
and Federal Sovereignty. — He edits " the 
Continentalist.^^ — Obtains the command of 
a Corps of Light Infantry. — Serves at 



CONTENTS. XI 

Page 

Yorktoum, and leads the Forlorm Hope. — 
Retires from active Service, and commences 
the study of Law. — His Marriage, — He 
is appointed by Morris receiver of Tax- 
es for the State of JYew-York .... 193 

CHAPTER VL 

Hamilton takes his Seat in Congress. — Ques- 
tion in relation to Vermont. — Plan for a 
uniform System of Duties on Imports. — 
Opposition of Rhode Island. — Anonymous 
Letter published in that State. — Proceed- 
ings of Congress in relation thereto. — Vir- 
ginia withdraws its Assent. — Report of the 
Committee of Finance. — Hamilton proposes 
a Substitute, which is rejected. — Report of 
the Committee of Finance, and Documents 
appended. — The JYewburgh Letters . . . 207 

CHAPTER Vn. 

Hamilton takes up his Residence in the City 
of Mew-York. — His Rivals and Associates 
at the Bar. — Popular Violence directed 
against the Tories. — Hamilton's publica- 
tion on this Occasion. — He is chosen a 
Member of Assembly. — His Agency in the 
Pacification of Vermont. — Causes which 
led to the call of a Convention for amend- 
ing the Confederacy. — Previous Convention 



Xll CONTENTS. 

Page 

at Annapolis. — Hamilton draws the Report 

of that Convention 224 

CHAPTER Vm. 

Federal Convention meets at Philadelphia. — 
Resolutions offered by Edmund Randolph, 
— Resolutions of Judge Patterson. — Plan 
offered by Pinckney. — Hamilton's great 
Speech in the Convention, in which he 
offers a Draught of a Constitution. — Ex- 
amination of its Features. — The Delega- 
tion from JYew-York retires from the Con- 
vention. — Hamilton alone returns and re- 
sumes his Seat. — Franklin's Speech. — 
Hamilton urges that all the Members should 
sign. — Hamilton's Speech on that Occasion, 
— Consideration of his Services in fra- 
ming the Constitution 239 

CHAPTER IX. 

Discussions in respect to the Federal Consti- 
tution. — Hamilton unites with Jay and 
Madison in writing the Federalist. — Let- 
ters of Philo-Publius. — State Convention 
at Poughkeepsie. — Hamilton is a mem- 
ber of that Convention^ and takes an 
active 'part in its Proceedings. — The 
Federal Constitution ratified hy that 
Convention. — Refections on the Con- 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

Paga 

stitution. — Change of Popular Feeling, 
and Rejoicings in New-York on its final 
Adoption 259 

CHAPTER X. 

/ashington is chosen President. — Organ- 
ization of the Executive Departments. — 
Hamilton is appointed Secretary of the 
Treasury. — His Report on Public Cred- 
it, in which he recommends the funding 
of the Debt and the laying of an Excise. 

— Opposition to the Funding System, 
which is, however, carried. — The Excise 
is also opposed, but carried. — Plan of a 
National Bank, which receives a Cha?'- 
ter. — Constitutional Question raised in 
relation to it 273 

CHAPTER XI. 

Success of the Bank of the United States. 
— Hamilton's Report on Manufactures. 

— His Report on a Mint. — Dissensions 
in the Cabinet. — Origin of the tivo great 
Parties. — Proclamation of Neutrality. — 
Mission of Genet, and his offensive Acts. 
— Proceedings of the Government in re- 
lation to them. — Letters of Pacificus . . 287 



XIV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER Xn. 

Paga 

Armed resistance to the Excise Law. — 
Hamilton resigns the Office of Secre- 
tary of the Treasury^ and resumes the 
practice of Law. — His brilliant Success. 
— His Disinterestedness as a Politician. 
— Continued Aggressions of France, and 
her Refusal to grant Redress. — Excite- 
ment of Popular Feeling. — The Pro- 
visional Army is voted by Congress. — 
Hamilton is named Inspector-general. — 
His Services in that Capacity . . .301 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Causes of the decline of the Federal Party. 
— Origin of the enmity of Burr against 
Hamilton. — Settlement of the Differ- 
ences ivith France. — The Provisional 
Army is disbanded, and Hamilton re- 
sumes the profession of Law. — He loses 
his eldest Son in a Duel. — Burr appears 
as a candidate for the office of Gov- 
ernor, and is prevented by Hamilton 
from receiving the support of the Fed- 
eral Party 316 



CONTENTS. XV 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Pago 
Burr demands an Explanation from Ham- 
ilton. — Correspondence between them. — 
A Duel is the result. — Examination of 
Hamilton's motives in consenting to it. — 
He is mortally wounded and dies. — His 
public Character and Views of Govern- 
ment 330 



PREFACE. 



Having undertaken to furnish a sketch of the 
Life of Jay for the " School District Library," the 
assent of his son, the Hon. WilUam Jay, was asked 
and hberally granted. The large and interesting 
memoir which he has published of his father was 
then placed in the hands of one of my sons for the 
purpose of selecting the dates and facts necessary 
for the purpose. This task was executed by him 
in such a manner as to leave me little else to do 
but suppress some parts which would have swell- 
ed the sketch beyond the proposed limits. It is 
therefore given to the world under his name. 
i It will probably be seen, that, adopting on al- 
most all occasions the views entertained by Judge 
William Jay of the character and merits of his 
father, there are slight differences in the colour 
given to public acts, and in estimates of men and 
measures, from those adopted by me in the bio- 
graphical sketches of Clinton and Hamilton. It 
has not been thought necessary to reconcile these 
discrepances, particularly as they will afford the 
reader a better opportunity of forming his own 
opinion. 

James Renwick. 

Columbia College, 1st August, 1840. 



LIFE 



JOHN JAY 



HENRY B. REN WICK. 



EDITED BY 

JAMES R E N W I C K, L L. D. 



JOHN JAY. 



CHAPTER I. 



French origin of the Family of Jay. — Brief 
Memoir of his immediate Ancestors. — His 
Birth and early Education. — He enters Columbia 
College^ and graduates with Honour. — He stud- 
ies Law, and is admitted to its Practice. — He is 
appointed Secretary to the Commission for run- 
ning the Boundary between JVew-Jersey and 
JYew-York. — He marries. 

To a youthful mind, the military deeds of the 
heroes of the Revolution generally present them- 
selves in more striking lights and glowing colours 
than the less glaring, though equally useful and 
patriotic, actions of the statesmen and councillors 
of the same period. This predilection for those 
who were covered with military glory has, in our 
own time, not been confined to youth alone, and 
we have seen the successful general considered by 
a majority of the nation fit to perform the duties of 
any and every other office. Although such a pre- 
dilection may naturally exist, yet we should not 
neglect the claims on our admiration and the grat- 
B 



14 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

itude due to those who, though they never perilled 
themselves on the field of battle, yet still were 
equally patriotic, equally forgetful of self-interest, 
and displayed as ^reat talent in the senate, the 
council chamber, and the closet. 

John Jay, the subject of the present memoir, 
was one of the latter class ; and we find him, in 
various periods of his long and eventful life, ful- 
filling the duties and holding the stations of a 
wise councillor, a skilful statesman, an upright 
judge, and a framer of treaties and state papers, 
by which the successes of others in the field were 
secured and turned to advantage. 

The account that we have of his ancestors ex- 
tends as far back as the time of his great-grand- 
father, and is derived from a paper prepared by 
himself for the perusal of his children. Pierre or 
Peter Jay, the person referred to, was a native of 
France, and resided in the City of Rochelle. His 
business was that of a merchant, and, from collat- 
eral facts, we have reason to believe that he was 
both wealthy and enterprising. Like many of the 
most industrious and most respectable inhabitants 
of that part of the country, he was a Protestant, 
and doomed, as we shall see, to undergo much 
trouble and persecution on account of his religion. 
He seems to have had a sort of presentiment, 
probably derived from the growing disfavour of 
the Protestants in the sight of the government. 



J O H N J A Y. 15 

that it would at some time or other be necessary 
for him to sacrifice both country and property on 
account of his rehgion. On this account he deter- 
mined to send one of his sons to England, to ac- 
quire a knowledge of that language, and be edu- 
cated there. His eldest son was the one chosen 
for this purpose, but he unfortunately died on the 
voyage. With great promptness, the father sent 
his second son, Augustus, who was then barely 
12 years old, to take his place. This happened 
A.D. 1677. The troubles and persecutions which 
Mr. Jay seemed to have foreseen, and which pre- 
ceded the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, now 
commenced, and in January, 1685, the Protestant 
church at Rochelle was pulled down, pursuant to 
a decree passed at that time. Finding that the 
Protestants still continued the exercise of their re- 
ligion, and were not to be forced to change it by 
any ordinary means, a regiment of dragoons was 
despatched to that portion of the country, and 
quartered upon the Protestant inhabitants. We 
have full evidence that these armed missionaries 
had free license to make their hosts as uncomfort- 
able as possible, and were encouraged to practise 
upon them those insults so easily perpetrated by 
an unrestrained and licentious soldiery. 

We can easily imagine to ourselves what must 
have been the situation of a pious fanuly, and 
what the feelings of a husband and a father, under 



16 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

such circumstances. Mr. Jay's were such that he 
determined that those nearest and dearest to him 
should no longer be exposed to such insult and 
contamination ; and, finding an opportunity that 
was at once safe and secret, he sent his family, 
together with several articles of value, on board 
a vessel bound for England. This vessel luckily 
arrived in safety ; and now the mind of Mr. Jay 
must have been comparatively at ease, for those 
who were most exposed and least fit to defend 
themselves were rescued from persecution. The 
departure of his family did not long remain un- 
discovered ; and suspicions arising from it of his 
own intentions, he was arrested and thrown into 
prison. From thence, by the intervention of some 
worthy Catholics, his friends, he was rescued ; and 
now, perceiving that France was no longer a resi- 
dence for him, he only awaited an opportunity to 
leave it for ever. Before this intention could be 
put in practice, it was necessary to secure some 
support for himself and family in a strange land ; 
this he could not procure by turning any of his 
French property into money, because his motives 
would easily have been seen, and a second arrest 
have followed. At this time several of his ships 
were expected to arrive, loaded with merchandise 
belonging to him, and one of them was to be the 
means of his escape. In order to effect this, an 
agreement was entered into with one of the pilots 



JOHN JAY. 17 

of the poit, in conformity with which the first of 
his ships that arrived was to anchor at some dis- 
tance, and not come up to the town. The first of 
his vessels that made its appearance was one from 
a Spanish port, loaded chiefly with iron ; and for- 
tunately, both for his honour and his future means 
of living, both ship and cargo belonged entirely to 
himself. The pilot, faithful to his promise, an- 
chored the vessel in the place determined on. 
With his assistance, Mr. Jay was enabled to em- 
bark, and sail was immediately made for England. 
He arrived in safety, and happy must have been 
the meeting between him and his family. They 
were now out of danger, free from persecution, 
and in the enjoyment of their own chosen religion ; 
and although their means were not so great as for- 
merly, yet they still had a sufficiency. 

On his escape from France being made pubUc, 
all his property was confiscated, and never was 
returned so as to be of any use either to him or to 
his children. But one thing was wanting to their 
complete happiness ; this w^as their uncertainty as 
to what would be the fate of their second, now 
their oldest, son, who was at that time probably 
in Africa, on commercial business of his father's. 
This son, Augustus, the grandfather of John Jay, 
returned (not knowing his parents' escape) to 
Rochelle. Thence, facilitated by the kindness of 
his friends, he managed to procure a passage to 
B2 



18 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Charleston, S. C. ; for he also, like his parents, 
was resolute in sacrificing everything for his reli- 
gion. From Charleston, driven by a cUmate un- 
healthy even to natives, and doubly so to foreign- 
ers, he travelled to Philadelphia ; but finding in 
that city, then in an infant state, no field for the 
exercise of commerce, to which business he had 
been brought up, he thence made his way to New- 
York. Here he not only found occupation, but 
friends, driven, like himself, by persecution, to carry 
the arts and industry of France to other shores. 
Here also he found churches built and attended 
by French refugees, and a service performed in his 
own language. Finding that his success in life 
must wholly depend upon his own exertions, he 
applied himself with diligence and skill to busi- 
ness, and followed for many years the calling of a 
supercargo. During this time he both heard from 
his parents and made them acquainted with his 
welfare. 

Leaving his fortunes for a while, we turn to 
those of his younger brother, Isaac. At this time 
the war between William of Orange and James 
II. of England was in progress, and a regiment 
of French refugees was formed by the former 
to assist in driving from Ireland his Catholic 
competitor for the throne. Into this regiment 
Isaac entered, impelled by the ardour of youth, 
and, no doubt, not a little by the lecoUection of 



JOHN JAY. 19 

the many insults and injuries he and his family had 
received at the hands of those who professed the 
Romish religion. He sealed his conviction of the 
justice of his own cause with his blood, and died 
not long after the battle of the Boyne, from the ef- 
fects of wounds received in that engagement. 

In the year 1692, Augustus, while pursuing his 
commercial avocations, started on a voyage from 
New-York to Hamburg ; on the passage the ves- 
sel was captured by a French privateer, and car- 
ried into St. Maloes. He, w^ith other prisoners, 
was confined, not very closely, as it appears by 
subsequent events, in a fortress about 15 miles 
from that place. While there, news arrived of 
the battle of La Hogue, and the prisoners were 
ordered into closer confinement. They in some 
way received news of this order, and determined, 
before it was put in force, to effect their escape. 
Accordingly, on the evening that was to precede 
their imprisonment, Augustus and some of his 
companions succeeded in scaling the wall and 
dropping into the ditch. Whether they were 
stunned by the fall or were recaptured, he had no 
means of ascertaining. He himself, however, got 
out of the ditch, took the road to, and arrived 
safely at, Rochelle. Here he was secreted and 
protected by his aunt, until she found means to 
send him to the Isle Aux Rhe, whence he got 
passage to Denmark. On his way home he pass- 



20 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ed through Holland, performed his business there, 
and then crossed over to England, where he saw 
his father and sister for the first time since their 
separation so many years before. There was one 
drawback to their joy, one cause of grief; the 
mother, who had gone through so many trials with 
them, was no more. The calls of business soon 
separated this happy party, and Augustus took a 
last farewell, and returned to his business in Amer- 
ica. 

A few years after his return he married. His 
wife was Anna Maria, daughter of Mr. Balthazar 
Bayard ; and she too, like himself, was descended 
from a family that had suffered from religious per- 
secution. Her great-grandfather was a French- 
man, a Protestant professor of theology in one of 
the colleges at Paris, who was forced either to give 
up his religion or leave his country during the 
reign of Louis XIII. He chose the latter alterna- 
tive, and fled to Holland, whence his grandson 
emigrated to this country. 

By this marriage, Augustus Jay found himself 
surrounded by a numerous and influential Dutch 
connexion. In the colony of New-York, the de- 
scendants of the Dutch were the most numerous 
class of the population, and they were remark- 
able for the liberal manner in which they befriend- 
ed and assisted their countrymen, or those connect- 
ed with them. Soon after his marriage, finding 



JOHN JAY. 21 

himself in comfortable and respectable circumstan- 
ces, Mr. Jay sent out for his father and sister ; but 
the father felt that his declining years would not 
permit such a voyage, and the sister would on no 
account leave him. Augustus Jay went on for 
many years increasing his wealth and influence ; 
and, after having had three children, all of whom 
were daughters, he was at last made happy by the 
birth of a son in the year 1704. This son, the 
father of John Jay, he named Peter. No other 
children were born, and Peter therefore, at his 
father's death, which did not take place until he 
had reached the age of 84, found himself sole 
bearer of the name of Jay. 

Peter Jay, like his father and grandfather, was 
a merchant, and followed his business with such 
success, that, at the age of forty, he was able to re- 
tire, and live on the proceeds of his former indus- 
try. At the age of 24 he had married Mary Van 
Cortlandt, and she, with their ten children, now 
accompanied him to Rye, a small village on Long 
Island Sound, where he had purchased a farm. 
Their eighth child, John Jay, was born on the 12th 
of December, 1745, and even in his childhood 
displayed some inklings of the spirit which was to 
animate him in after years. His early education 
was principally derived from his mother, who was 
a woman both of talents and information. She 
also instilled into his mind those Chiistian princi- 



^2 AMERICAN B OGRAPHY. 

ciples which we shall find exhibiting themselves 
in his future career. At the age of eight he was 
sent to a grammar school at New-Rochelle. His 
instructer there was the Rev. Mr. Stoope, a native 
of Switzerland, and pastor of the French church. 
To great learning and fondness for mathematical 
pursuits he united absence of mind ; and his pupil 
suffered from the latter almost as much as he gained 
from the former. To his wife, who was as miser- 
ly as he was careless, the care of his household 
was committed, and several anecdotes are record- 
ed of the sufferings of young Jay, both as to food 
and treatment. 

John Jay remained under the tuition of Stoope 
for three years, and was then placed by his father 
under the care of a private tutor, who prepa- 
red him for a college. The one selected was 
King's, now Columbia College, an institution which 
boasts of many celebrated men among its alumni. 
He now seems to have commenced with energy 
and perseverance to conquer some defects and ac- 
quire many excellences; among the former were an 
indistinctness of articulation, and a habit of read- 
ing aloud with such speed that it was impossible for 
him to be understood ; both these faults he over- 
came. He applied himself to all his. studies with 
diligence, and in composition was so anxious not 
to lose any ideas, that even when in bed he kept 
paper and pencil beside him, in order to secure any 



J O H N J A Y. 23 

new thought that might strike him when he awoke. 
In fine, he obtained both praise and esteem from 
all his teachers by his application and his correct 
deportment. In his fourth collegiate year he de- 
cided upon the law as his future profession, and 
commenced his studies by reading with a fellow- 
student " Grotius de Jure Belli et Pacis." Be- 
fore taking his degree, he was, on account of con- 
duct to which no moral blame could have been 
imputed, for a time suspended. He soon returned, 
and was first in his class when the term of their 
collegiate education expired. At the Commence- 
ment he spoke the Latin salutatory address, then, 
as now, considered the highest honour, and receiv- 
ed his degree of Bachelor of Arts on the 15th of 
May, 1764. 

Two weeks afterward he began his professional 
studies in the office of Benjamin Kissam, a law- 
yer of some repute in the City of New-York. 
The respect and esteem between master and pupil 
soon became mutual, and some pleasing letters are 
still preserved, which show the good understanding 
that existed between them. In 1768 Mr. Jay was 
examined and admitted to practice, and soon, by 
his talents and industry, was possessed of a lu- 
crative business. His intense application and con- 
finement produced ill. health; as a remedy, he took 
lodgings six miles from town, and rode in and out 
on horseback daily. 



24 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Commissioners were at this time appointed by 
the king to determine a disputed boundary-line 
between the provinces of New-York and New- 
Jersey. Mr. Jay was named secretary of that 
commission, and thus commenced his pubhc ca- 
reer as a servant of that king to whom he was af- 
terward so long and so successfully opposed. 

In the year 1774, Jay, being then twenty-nine 
years of age, was united in marriage to Miss Sarah 
Livingston. William Livingston, the father of this 
lady, had distinguished himself as an ardent and 
active patriot, and, from the lead he took among the 
Whigs of New-Jersey, became the first governor 
of that state after the declaration of independence. 
Jay, by the father's side descended froai the 
French Huguenots, by his mother's from a family 
of the first note among the Batavian settlers of 
the New-Netherlands, was by this marriage allied 
to the most influential persons of British origin 
among the inhabitants of the State of New-York. 
He was thus saved from all risk of becoming obnox- 
ious to the petty jealousies which difference of race 
and origin often give rise to. The circumstances of 
birth and connexion with the three prevailing ra- 
ces, especially with the most noted and respectable 
in all, could, at a time when equalit}' had hardly 
become a theory, and was still farther from being 
practically acted upon, have had no little influence 
in bringing him early before the pubhc eye. Jay 



JOHN JAY. 26 

was not one of those who disappoint the expecta- 
tions derived from their nativity and alHances, but 
fully warranted by his valuable services the hon- 
ours which were showered upon him at a very 
early period of his life. 
C 



26 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER 11. 

Committee of Correspondence appointed hy the 
Citizens of JYew-York. — Jay is chosen a Mem- 
her. — Proposal for a General Congress. — Jay 
is elected a Delegate to the first General Con- 
gress. — Address of Congress to the People of 
England. — Provisional Congress of J^ew-York. 
— Commencement of Hostilities.- — Appeal of 
Congress to the Inhabitants of Canada. — Decla- 
ration by Congress of the Causes for taking up 
Arms. — Petition of Congress to the King of 
Great Britain. — Moral Consequences of this 
Petition. — Jay is named a Colonel of Infofatry, 
— Overtures of the French Government. — Meas- 
ures for the repression of the Tories. — Manifesto 
of Congress in relation to Privateers. — Conven- 
tion in JYew-York for the formation of a Con- 
stitution. — First Draught of that Constitution 
by Jay. — Reflections on the Character of that 
Instrument. 

The clouds which had long been gathering 
upon the political horizon of America now began 
to roll themselves towards the zenith, and burst in 
storms on the devoted heads of the colonists. 
Acts of aggression on the one side were followed 



JOHN JAY. 27 

on the other by resistance to oppression and injus- 
tice. Men were called from the bosom of their 
families and from the pleasures of domestic life 
to act for their country, and to give themselves up 
wholly to what was required for the maintenance 
of its liberty. Among these was Mr. Jay, and his 
first office in the service of the patriots was as one 
of a committee appointed by the citizens of New- 
York to correspond with their fellow-colonists on 
all matters of moment, and especially upon the 
manner of their resistance to the oppression of the 
mother country. Mr. Jay was appointed on a sub- 
committee, whose business was to prepare answers 
to such communications as might be received. 

Among the labours of this sub-committee, an 
answer was framed to a letter from the people of 
Boston. The draught of this is supposed to have 
come from the hands of Jay. It is not a little re- 
markable, as it contains the first proposition for 
the provinces to elect deputies to a general Con- 
gress. The New-York committee, on the 4th of 
July, 1774, passed resolutions that their city ought 
to send delegates to this Congress, when and wher- 
ever it might be held ; they also nominated five 
gentlemen, among whom was Jay, as suitable rep- 
resentatives. They were elected; but Mr. Jay 
and two of his colleagues, conceiving, from the 
manner of the election, that they were unfairly 
appointed, refused to serve^ unless another election 



28 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

was held. Accordingly, a second election was 
held, and in a more formal manner ; all who paid 
taxes voted, and the proceedings were countenan- 
ced and controlled by the corporation of the city. 
Mr. Jay was again elected, and proceeded with 
alacrity and cheerfulness to take his seat in a body 
whose existence was not countenanced by the laws 
of the country, and whose members would be lia- 
ble to royal persecution. 

The situation of a delegate to Congress seems 
to have been by no means considered as one that 
ought to be coveted, and many counties were not 
represented in consequence of the difficulty of 
finding proper persons who were willing to serve. 
The towns along the Hudson, unable, from these 
causes, to elect members, committed to the New- 
York delegation the right of voting and acting for 
them. 

Congress assembled in Philadelphia on the 5th 
of September, 1774. Mr. Jay took his seat on 
the first day of the session, and, although the 
youngest member, occupied a prominent place in 
the business of the assembly. One of the first 
measures of the house was the passage and rec- 
ommendation of a strict non-importation act, by 
which the colonists bound themselves to use no 
production of the mother country. This act, it was 
fondly hoped, would, by depriving English mer- 
chants of their trade, induce them to remonstrate 



JOHN JAY. 29 

against the decrees of government, and procure 
their repeal. No such action followed, and, by 
their rigid observance of this agreement, the col- 
onists found that they had not so much injured 
England as almost ruined themselves ; for, at the 
commencement of actual hostilities, they were des- 
titute of every munition of war, every manufac- 
tured necessary of life. 

Congress appointed several committees, and, 
among others, one for drawing up an address to the 
people of England, and a memorial to the inhabi- 
tants of British America 3 of this committee Jay was 
a member, and to him, young though he was, was 
assigned the duty of preparing the former paper. 
He acquitted himself well ; the address was adopt- 
ed by Congress, and w^as considered by all as no 
less remarkable for the sentiments it contained, 
than for the manner in which they were expressed. 
After a short session of six weeks Congress ad- 
journed, but not until they had made provision for 
reassembling. 

In the interval between the sessions, the City of 
New-York took measures, by the appointment of a 
committee with powers, to secure the observance 
of the non -importation agreement. Of this com- 
mittee Mr. Jay was one. It was soon seen that 
other business was to be transacted than the mere 
interruption of a commerce with England, and, in 
order to do this, it was necessary to invest some 
C2 



30 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

public body with higher and more extended pow- 
ers; the citizens of New- York wished also to 
have the sanction of the other inhabitants of the 
state to their measures. The Legislature of the 
state no longer possessed the confidence of the 
patriotic portion of the people, and it was advised 
by the existing committee (to meet all these exi- 
gencies), that an elective body should meet at 
New-York, performing the functions and wielding 
the power of that part of the government. This 
recommendation was acted upon. A provisional 
Congress, as it was called, assembled in New- 
York, with Jay as a member, who was thus a 
third time elected to a situation of responsibility 
and danger. 

On the 15th of May, 1775, the general Con- 
gress again assembled at Philadelphia; and al- 
though, at that time, active resistance and aggres- 
sion on their part seems not to have been contempla- 
ted, yet they took every peaceable measure dictated 
by prudence for the maintenance of their civil 
liberties. The battle of Lexington seems to have 
developed fully to them the plans of the British 
government, and showed them that it was deter- 
mined upon using force when other means failed. 
The act of open hostility to the mother country 
seemed to them so decided and wholly novel a 
step, that they were only willing to use it as a last 
resort ; but to this resort they were soon forced, 



JOHN JAY. 31 

and Congress took measures for the enlistment of 
an American army and the formation of an Amer- 
ican navy. 

On the 15th of June Washington was appoint- 
ed commander-in-chief, and soon after other gen- 
erals were chosen. While this was going on, Mr. 
Jay manifested his discrimination of character by 
nominating as brigadier John Sullivan, saying that 
his good sense was known to the house, and that 
he would take his chance for his military talents-^ 
The after career of General Sullivan justified this 
recommendation. 

Congress soon perceived the necessity of uni- 
ting the Canadas to them in the contest that was 
about to take place. They well knew the impor- 
tance of the decision of that province as to which 
cause it would espouse in the approaching contest ; 
they easily saw that it would be impossible for 
Canada to be neutral ; that she must be either their 
friend or their foe. They therefore appointed Mr. 
Jay to draw up a call to the inhabitants of that 
country to join with their Southern brethren in re- 
pelling the aggressions of England. This paper 
calls on the inhabitants of that country, and in- 
vokes them, by every sentiment of their honour, 
every love for freedom, every conviction of the 
justice of the quarrel, and by every even pruden- 
tial consideration, to make common cause with the 
united provinces against their common enemy 



32 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Great Britain. This appeal, as is now a matter 
of history, was in vain. 

In July Congress published a declaration, " set- 
ting forth the causes and necessity for taking up 
arms." Mr. Jay was one of the committee which 
drew this paper, but it is not positively known 
whether or not he was the author. In this decla- 
ration Congress made it clear that they had not 
appealed to arms actuated by any vain ambition 
of becoming independent states, but that they 
were driven into the field for the protection of 
their liberties, their lives, and their property. 

On the eighth of the same month Mr. Jay suc- 
ceeded, against strenuous opposition, in procuring 
an act of Congress sending a petition, signed by its 
members, to the king. The passage of this act 
was opposed, on the grounds that a like memorial 
from the former Congress had been treated with 
neglect; but Jay vindicated its adoption on the 
plea that, if this also were neglected, the world 
would see that there was no other course left 
them ; that they were without other means of re- 
lief ; and were driven, almost without their own 
consent, to resort to actual hostilities. Mr. Jay, 
even to the latest period of his life, was accustom- 
ed to refer to this paper, and to state his convic- 
tion that it had great effect in producing unity of 
purpose among his countrymen. Congress, hav- 
ing made an appeal to the people of Canada, 



JOHN JAY. 33 

thought it judicious to enlist in their favour the 
sympathies of other countries under the same tyr- 
anny as themselves ; and, in accordance with this 
resolve, Mr. Jay, as a member of a committee, 
drew up an able and judicious document, address- 
ed to the people of Ireland and Jamaica. 

Moved by the situation of New-York, a city 
which, remarkable even then for its wealth, as well 
as for its easiness of access from the sea, its long 
inland water communication, and for the numbers 
of its Tory population, would present itself to the 
British government as an easy conquest, and, when 
conquered, would furnish an excellent place of 
arms, Congress recommended measures for its 
defence. The provincial Congress of that colony 
(as it yet must be styled) called out the militia, and 
proceeded to officer and equip them. They found 
great difficulty, however, in procuring talented of- 
ficers, and were obliged to tender a commission to 
Mr. Jay, although he was already a member of 
two legislative bodies. Ever ready to serve his 
country, he accepted the tender, and became colo- 
nel of the 2d militia regiment of infantry. His 
duties as a legislator were more necessary to the 
state than those of a soldier, and this command 
was never assumed. 

America had taken up arms relying solely on it- 
self, without hope of foreign aid, and the Conti- 
nental Congress was therefore not a httle surpri- 



34 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

sed and delighted by receiving informal intelli- 
gence that there was a foreigner at that time in 
Philadelphia who had important communications 
to make to them from his government. No notice 
was at first taken of the fact 3 but, the informa- 
tion having been reiterated, Congress appointed a 
committee, consisting of Jay, Jefferson, and Frank- 
lin, to confer with this envoy. Accordingly, they 
had a meeting with an old French gentleman, who 
assured them of the sympathy of his most Chris- 
tian majesty, and informed them that he would 
supply them, if they required, with money, ammu- 
nition, and arms. To their requests to give up his 
authority, he would only reply by saying, " Gen- 
tlemen, I shall take care of my head ;" thus inti- 
mating that his government wished to give assu- 
rances that they might deny if necessary. 

This communication produced a strong effect 
upon Congress, and led to the formation of a se- 
cret committee to correspond with the friends of 
America in Great Britain, Ireland, and other parts 
of the world ; of this committee Jay was a mem- 
ber. 

The colony, as well as the City of New-York, 
contained many Tories, and was far from being 
unanimous on the great question of the time. The 
inhabitants of Queen's county. Long Island, had 
proceeded so far as to refuse to send members to 
the colonial Congress, and had declared themselves 



JOHN JAY. 35 

neutral in the present struggle. Congress, at the 
instigation of Mr. Jay, passed resolutions com- 
menting severely on the indecision and cowardice 
of their course, and also, as was necessary, took 
measures, by sending troops, for disarming the in- 
habitants and arresting the most odious. 

Congress became every day more strongly con- 
vinced that it was absolutely necessary for them 
not only to defend themselves from direct aggres- 
sion, but also, in turn, to become the assailants. 
The commerce of the enemy w^as most open to at- 
tack, and commissions were accordingly issued to 
privateers, authorizing them to capture vessels be- 
longing to the English. This measure was more 
decided than any that government had yet resolv- 
ed upon, and they felt it due to themselves to ex- 
plain their reasons ; Mr. Jay, as usual, was direct- 
ed to prepare this statement, which task he per- 
formed with his customary judgment and elegance. 

The several papers which have been mentioned 
as drawn up by Jay, in the name and on behalf of 
Congress, may be cited as models. The effect 
which they produced, not only upon the population 
of the United States, but on the nations of the old 
Continent, was prodigious. On the floor of the 
British Parliament they were quoted as equal in 
beauty of style, vigour of expression, and sound 
argument, to the most celebrated and admired 
productions of the classic authors of antiquity. 



36 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

" When your lordships," said Chatham, in a cele- 
brated and often-quoted speech, " look at the pa- 
pers transmitted to us from America ; when you 
consider their decency, firmness, and wisdom, you 
cannot but respect their cause, and wish to make 
it your own. For myself, I must declare and 
avow that, in all my reading and observation (and 
it has been my favourite study ; I have read Thu- 
cydides, and studied and admired the master 
states of the world) — I say I must declare, that 
for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and 
wisdom of conclusion under such a complication 
of difficult circumstances, no nation or body of 
men can stand in preference to the general Con- 
gress at Philadelphia." 

The last which has been cited had the effect of 
preparing the public mind for the reception of the 
great and starthng question of independence. The 
colonists in it made their last appeal to the justice 
of the monarch whose authority as sovereign they 
still recognised, although in arms against him ; and 
having done so ineffectually, the abjuration of their 
allegiance became an inevitable step. The strug- 
gle was commenced for the enjoyment of their 
rights as British subjects ; and, failing in redress by 
humble petition to the throne, no resource was left 
but that of renouncing all fealty to the authority 
which had not fulfilled its part of the unwritten 
compact between sovereign and people. 



J O H N J A Y. 37 

Mr. Jay, while in attendance upon the Conti- 
nental Congress, was elected a member of the Con- 
gress of his native colony ; and as the former body 
had passed resolutions calling upon the colonies to 
adopt forms of government for themselves, our 
statesman was recalled by the convention to giv<^ 
his assistance in the formation of a state govern- 
ment. We see, from the history of the former pa- 
ges, how strongly his countrymen relied upon the 
talents and patriotism of Mr. Jay ; he was called 
to every office, civil or military, in which there 
was opportunity for displaying his judgment. We 
now find him holding three appointments at once, 
so well were all convinced of his fitness for every 
duty that was imposed upon him. 

On the 31st of May he reported resolutions, in 
which the provisional Congress called upon their 
constituents to elect a new body, which should 
have, besides the usual powers, that necessary for 
the formation and putting in practice a new form 
of government. These measures were resolved 
upon, a new Convention was elected, aud Mr. Jay 
as one of its members. 

On the 29th of June, Lord Howe, with a fleet 
and army, arrived at the harbour of New-York ; 
and the Convention, after giving orders, which 
show how little they were prepared ibr de- 
fence, retired to White Plains. While there they 
received a copy of the Declaration of Independ- 
D 



38 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ence. On this occasion Mr. Jay reported a reso- 
lution, which was unanimously adopted, by which 
the colony pledged itself heart and hand to aid 
Congress in carrying out that declaration. 

Even at this early period we see the states 
standing upon their rights and their separate sov- 
ereignty, and we find Mr. Jay resisting an act of 
the Continental Congress, by which they appoint- 
ed officers to a battalion that had been raised by 
the State of New-York. He gave such reasons 
for his course as convinced the Convention, and 
they remonstrated with Congress on this straining 
of their authority. 

On the 16th of July Mr. Jay succeeded in car- 
rying resolutions declaring all persons who in 
any way aided or assisted England guilty of trea- 
son to the new state, and liable to be pimished ac- 
cordingly. This measure was rendered justifiable 
by the Declaration of Independence, which decla- 
red that the country was no longer a colony, but a 
separate state, and had perfect right to provide in 
every way for its own safety. 

Some of the British fleet passed up the Hudson 
River, and the Convention, fearful of the conse- 
quences of the enemy's having control of that im- 
portant means of communication, appointed a com- 
mittee to place obstacles in the channel and annoy 
the shipping. Mr. Jay, as a member of this body, 
was despatched to Connecticut in order to obtain 



J O H N J A Y. 39 

cannon and shot, and was invested with almost 
absolute powers for forwarding the business of his 
mission. He succeeded after much trouble, and 
delivered twenty cannon at West Point. 

On the first of August the Convention appoint- 
ed Mr. Jay as member of a committee to draught 
a new constitution, and, shortly after, placed him 
in the exercise of what, at the present time, would 
appear to us dictatorial power. The exigences 
of the case demanded that strenuous exertions 
should be made for the development of the nu- 
merous plots against the new government, and for 
the conviction and punishment of those engaged 
in them. Mr. Jay was chairman of the commit- 
tee which wielded the power for this purpose, and 
was for a long time actively engaged in perform- 
ing this duty. Many Tories were imprisoned, ban- 
ished, or put under surveillance by their orders, 
and the whole state was purified and kept in strict 
allegiance to the Union. 

Now arrived the period of greatest despond- 
ency and gloom during the time of the Revolu- 
tion. The British arms succeeded everywhere ; 
our waters were filled with their shipping, our 
shores crowded with their armies. The American 
troops, enfeebled by want and dispirited by defeat, 
were retreating through New- Jersey, pursued by 
an overwhelming force. At this crisis, then, at 
this period of general despondency and dismay, 



40 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Mr. Jay aroused himself, and implored his coimtry- 
men, in spirit-stirring language, not to be cast 
down, but to gird themselves to the work, and use 
every honourable means for the welfare of the 
glorious cause in which they were engaged. Of 
this appeal Congress thought so highly, that they 
caused it to be printed at their expense, and rec- 
ommended it to the attention of all. In this long 
and well-written address, Mr. Jay recommends a 
patriotism stern, decided, and devoted ; and calls 
upon his countrymen, by the examples of antiquity, 
by what they owe to themselves and to their chil- 
dren, by their sensitiveness to the praise or censure 
of the world ; in fine, by every incitement, to do 
their duty to themselves and to their country. 

Although he was thus earnest in calling upon 
the friends of the cause, he was no advocate for 
too great severity upon its enemies, and on every 
occasion softened, as much as possible, the punish- 
ment of the disaffected and Tories. He even 
went so far as to procure a vote of censure from 
the Convention, directed to one who he thought 
had abused the power intrusted to him. 

At this time the parents of Mr. Jay, in their re- 
tirement at Rye, were exposed to inconvenience, 
if not to danger, on account of the presence of the 
invading force ; and, with his customary high-toned 
notions of duty, judging that their welfare ought 
to be his first care, he procured leave of absence 



J O H N J A Y. 41 

from the Convention, and succeeded in placing his 
parents in safety at Fishkill. The family mansion 
fell into the hands of the enemy, and was not oc- 
cupied by its lawful owners until the end of the 
war. 

In 1775, on account of the statements of the 
French envoy, Congress had appointed a secret 
committee of correspondence with the other parts 
of the world. 

This committee enumerated Mr. Jay among its 
members, and had now sufficiently advanced in its 
business to feel itself justified in sending an agent 
to France, to endeavour there to obtain munitions 
of war. An interview with the French minister 
was secured to him through the intervention of 
some influential merchants in France and Holland, 
whose good offices the committee had secured. 
The agent was Mr. Silas Deane, and he was di- 
rected to correspond with Mr. Jay, making use of 
sympathetic ink, as it was important that England, 
at that time at peace with France, should have no 
suspicion of the proposed assistance. Some of 
these letters still exist, and of others copies remain 
in Mr. Jay's handwriting. 

We are now about to behold Mr. Jay in a far 
more important station than any he yet had held, 
and are to recognise him as the framer of a con- 
stitution that long governed one of the most im- 
portant states of the Union, and under which it 
D2 



42 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

rose to unexampled influence and prosperity 
There is no doubt, both from the testimony of col 
lateral circumstance and from the fact of the first 
draught being in his own handwriting, that this 
constitution was mainly the production of Jay. 
The document was important on many accounts, 
was a task of no small difficulty, and one that re- 
quired peculiar tact and skill. It was not only 
requisite, as in all constitutions, that it should pro- 
vide a safe form of government, but also that it 
should reconcile itself to many contradictory opin- 
ions, bind together many antagonist parties, and, 
in the face of danger and opposition, be able to 
maintain itself. For these reasons, this constitu- 
tion is one of the most enduring monuments to the 
fame of Jay ; and, had it not happened that he 
was unable to be present at its adoption by the 
Convention, we should have had still more reason 
to admire it. 

The circumstances that prevented this constitu- 
tion from being all that Mr. Jay desired happened 
in this wise. On account of the peculiar character 
of many members of the Convention, he thought 
that his measures would have greater chance of 
success were he only to propose some of them in 
the first draught, and move others by way of 
amendment; being, however, suddenly called upon 
to attend the deathbed of his mother, he was pre- 
vented from being present at the adoption of the 



JOHN JAY. 43 

constitution by the Convention, and thus disabled 
from amending it. This constitution was adopted 
on the 20th of April, 1777, and governed the 
State of New-York until 1821. 

The Constitution of the State of New- York, 
as framed by the Convention of 1776, and in the 
draught of which Jay bore, so great a part, was 
one of the most masterly applications of sound 
principles which the w^orld has ever witnessed. 
While it gave the most perfect security to life, 
liberty, and property, it opposed an efficient bar- 
rier to the licentiousness which has, in so many in- 
stances, accompanied the progress of revolutions. 
It was, in truth, exactly suited to the times and 
circumstances which gave it birth ; and if, in the 
course of events, it ceased to be applicable, it 
was rather because the circumstances had changed 
than because it was defective in its origin. Nay, 
we may still be permitted to question whether the 
principle which had served as the groundwork 
of the freedom of Britain, and so long maintained 
in Belgium and Spain, namely, that taxation is the 
basis of representation, be not more likely to give 
permanency to government and stability to free- 
dom, than that which classes all men as free and 
equal. The former we derive from the Hampdens 
and Sidneys of England, the latter is the later 
growth of the French Revolution. It is a remark- 
able fact, that the call for a convention to remodel 



44 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the Constitution of New-York grew out of no com- 
plaint against the principle of representation, or 
the forms of the legislative and judicial bodies, 
but arose from dissatisfaction at the construction 
which had been given to the original instrument 
by a subsequent convention ; a construction which 
Jay, as governor of the state, had resisted, because 
contrary to its spirit. When, however, a conven- 
tion was assembled to amend the Constitution, the 
leaders of both the parties into which the people 
of the state was then divided entered into the 
race of popularity, and the elective franchise was 
by common consent rendered universal. 

However well the old Constitution may have 
worked, and however different may be the princi- 
ple on which the new one is founded, no fear, we 
may confidently trust, need be entertained that it 
will not continue to be equally conducive to public 
happiness and prosperity. That it shall do so 
must depend upon the virtue and intelligence of 
the people ; and the duration of our liberties will 
be the necessary result of the diffusion of educa- 
tion and knowledge to the same wide extent as the 
right of suffrage. 



JOHNJAY 45 



CHAPTER m. 



Council of Safety of the State of JYew-Ym-k. — 
Appeal to the Inhabitants of Tryon County. — 
Jay is named Chief-justice of JVew-York. — 
Visit of Washington to Jay, — Scheme for the 
Conquest of Canada. — Jay returns as a Dele- 
gate to Congress f and resigns his seat on the 
Bench. — He is chosen President of Congress. — 
He is appointed Ambassador to Spain. — He sails 
on that Mission. — He is driven by Stress of 
Weather into Martinique. — He re-embarks, and 
lands at Cadiz. — He is invited to Madrid, but 
not formally received. — Question in relation to 
the Right of navigating the Mississippi. — 
Draughts of Congress upon Jay, and Difficulties 
to which he is exposed in consequence. — Jay is 
named a Commissioner to negotiate a Treaty 
with Great Britain. — Impolitic and humiliating 
Instructions to the Commissioners. 

In our last chapter we have followed the life of 
Mr. Jay up to the time of the formation of a sys- 
tem of government for his native state. It now 
became necessary to put this form into operation. 
The Convention accordingly appointed such offi- 
cers under the new Constitution as were actually 



46 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

necessary for the administration of affairs, and then 
dissolved themselves, having first indicated certain 
of their o^m members as a " Council of Safety," 
to hold the reins of government until the election 
of a governor and Legislature by the people. Mr. 
Jay was a member of this council, and v^^as also 
appointed chief-justice of the Supreme Court. 
This council, as was necessary on account of the 
times, held arbitrary and absolute power. While 
a member of it, the state was placed in a most try- 
ing situation. The enemy held possession of New- 
York in the South, and an invading army from 
Canada entered it from the north ; even true men 
began to despond, and those disaffected arrayed 
themselves in open hostility. At this time Mr. 
Jay, at the request of his colleagues, addressed 
an appeal to the inhabitants of Tryon County, im- 
ploring them not to rely on the promises and pro- 
tection of the enemy, but upon themselves and the 
assistance of their fellow-citizens. In the course 
of events, it was now imperative that a governor 
should be chosen. Mr. Jay was regarded by 
many as a fit occupant for that office, and was 
desired to present himself as a candidate. He 
refused the offer on the grounds that he could be 
of more use to the state in the office which he at 
present held ; at the same time declaring that he 
was fully sensible that it was an office both of 
greater profit and greater honour, but that his pa- 



J H N J A Y. 47 

triotism taught him to work, not for his own good, 
but for that of his country. Mr. Jay appears at 
this time, from the tenour of his letters, to have been 
much worried at some imputations cast against the 
fair fame of an old friend of his, General Schuyler, 
who then commanded the army in the northern 
part of the state. These charges were apparently 
confirmed by Congress, for they recalled the gen- 
eral from his command ; but the true reason was 
given in a letter from a member of Congress to 
Mr. Jay, stating that he was recalled to humour 
the eastern militia, who would not fight under his 
command. 

On the 9th of September, the first term of the 
Supreme Court under the new Constitution was 
held at the village of Kingston, on the Hudson 
River. Mr. Jay presided at this court ; and the 
circumstances under which it was held seem to 
have made a deep impression on his mind. In his 
charge to the jury, he pointed out to them, in 
glowing colours, the situation that they were in, 
and the, to them, particularly happy and pleasura- 
ble fact, that they were the first judicial body as- 
sembled under a new and free Constitution. 

Mr. Jay, as member of a council to whom it 
was necessary that all bills should be referred, 
and by whom they must be approved before they 
became laws, was obliged to be in attendance 
upon the Legislature during its entire session. 



48 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The only relaxation that his duties permitted were 
occasional visits to his only surviving parent at 
Fishkill. While there he was visited by General 
Washington, who gave proof of the high esteem 
in which he held Mr. Jay by imparting to him a 
confidential communication from Congress on the 
subject of the invasion of Canada. This invasion 
was to have been conducted by a combined 
French and American land force, accompanied 
and supported by a French fleet in the St. Law- 
rence. Both the commander-in-chief and Mr. Jay 
disapproved of this plan of operation ; but their 
real and chief objection was not set forth in the 
letter addressed by the general to Congress on the 
subject. The reason was this : that, were Canada 
once conquered, and the French permitted to set 
foot in their old possessions, they would be unwill- 
ing to give them up to the United States, and dan- 
ger was apprehended from a French colony so 
near at hand. 

The question thus presented was one of vast im- 
portance to the future interests of the United States. 
The French had claimed to include in their two 
colonies of Canada and Louisiana the whole Val- 
ley of the Mississippi ; and, had they been again 
put in possession of the former, there is little doubt 
that the claim would have been renewed. Still, 
the assistance of France w^as of such importance 
to the rising liberties of America, that it became a 



JOHN JAY. 49 

nice and delicate question how this proposition 
could be rejected without giving displeasure to so 
useful an ally. We shall see, on a subsequent oc- 
casion, how far this old territorial claim on the 
part of France influenced the conduct of its min- 
istry in the negotiations for a general peace ; and 
it seems to have been fortunate that a jealousy was 
at this early period awakened in Jay's mind as to 
the designs of that nation. No one can now be- 
lieve that the French government gave its support 
to the rebellion of the British colonies except from 
interested motives, however speedily the spark of 
liberty was communicated to the people of France, 
where it was destined to excite such a vast and 
terrific conflagration, in which the thrones of Eu- 
rope w^ere in danger of being utterly consumed. 

While the affairs of the State of New-York 
were still in confusion, and fixed governments were 
just getting into operation in the other states, the 
people inhabiting the present State of Vermont, 
then a territory claimed both by New-York and 
New-Hampshire, took advantage of the state of 
anarchy, and resolved themselves into an inde- 
pendent community. 

By the Constitution of the State of New-York, 
the chief-justice was rendered incapable of holding 
any other office at the same time except that of 
delegate to Congress, and that only on special 
occasions. The Legislature of his ov/n state were 
E 



50 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

anxious to be represented by Mr. Jay while this 
cause was pending against Vermont ; they there- 
fore resolved that the present occasion was a spe- 
cial one, and elected him as their delegate to the 
Continental Congress : after an absence of two 
years he again took his seat in that body, and was, 
on the resignation of their then president, elected 
to that office, the highest in the gift of the repub- 
lic. While holding this office, he thought that a 
due attention to its duties would prevent his per- 
forming those which were incumbent on him as 
chief-justice ; and, accordingly, he wrote to the 
governor of New- York, resigning the latter place. 
After some objections his resignation was accepted. 
In his after correspondence he remarks to the gov- 
ernor, that the Legislature may now be inclined to 
keep him in Congress ; but that, unless he could 
provide satisfactorily for the comfort of his father, 
it would be impossible for him to remain. Satis- 
factory arrangements were made, and Mr. Jay 
continued at his post. 

The funds for the support of the war had hith- 
erto been supplied by an emission of paper money 
by Congress. This money was issued without any 
limit except that of their necessities, and had de- 
preciated so far as to be almost valueless. The 
English encouraged the counterfeiting it as one 
means of annoyance ; and this currency w^as now 
so little worth, that, in the words of a hero of the 



JOHN JAY. 51 

Revolution, a cartload of provision could only be 
purchased by a cartload of money. We ourselves 
ha^e seen sheets of it lying in garrets, and worth 
no more than so much wrapping-paper. Congress 
set themselves seriously to work to obtain some 
better means of carrying on the war, and were res- 
olute in the opinion that all ought to be lost rath- 
er than the government of the United States should 
become bankrupt, and thus lose its honour ; they 
therefore decided that the separate states of the 
confederacy should furnish contributions, and ad- 
dressed a letter to them explaining their reasons 
for coming to this decision. Mr. Jay, their presi- 
dent, was directed to compose this letter ; and, in 
accordance with their instructions, he in a few 
days furnished a document that is still preserved 
and admired, no less for its business-like state- 
ments than its eloquence. 

It will be recollected that Mr. Jay was elected 
to Congress to sustain the claim of the State 
of New-York ag-ainst Vermont. To fulfil this 
duty, he proposed and carried certain resolutions, 
and transmitted them to the Legislature, accom- 
panied by a letter to the governor, explaining the 
objections of Congress to move further in the 
matter for the present. 

In the treaty entered into between France and 
the United States, a secret stipulation had been in- 
serted, according to Spain the right of becoming a 



52 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

party to that treaty whenever she might think fit. 
Congress, on the 27th of September, determined 
to send Mr. Jay as minister plenipotentiary to 
Spain. He accepted the appointment, and re- 
signed the presidency of Congress, which office 
he had filled for nearly a year. 

Out of the few vessels of their navy Congress 
had selected one, the frigate Confederacy, to car- 
ry out the French ambassador, and thus honour 
their ally. It was determined that Mr. Jay should 
take passage in the same vessel, thus securing to 
him not only greater comfort, but greater safety. 
On the 20th of October, only a few days after his 
instructions were received, Mr. Jay and his wife 
set sail, without even having had the satisfaction 
of bidding adieu to their parents and friends. He 
was now about to carry to other climes that useful- 
ness and zeal which had long distinguished him in 
his own country. He was destined to be the up- 
holder of the credit of his nation, the uncompro- 
mising supporter of her dignity, and the zealous 
framer of a treaty by which peace and independ- 
ence, as well as commercial advantages, were to 
be secured to her. He was destined, too, to go 
through many trials before these measures were 
accomplished, and was placed in situations w^here 
he was forced, by his own convictions, to take res- 
ponsibility, and be guided more by his own senti- 
ments than his instructions while fulfilling the du- 
ties of his mission. 



JOHN JAY. 53 

On the voyage, as is well known to those con- 
versant with the naval history of our country, the 
frigate w^as, after being deprived in a storm of all 
her masts, forced to bear away for the Island of 
Martinique, where, after many difficulties and a 
narrow escape from the enemy's fleet, they arri- 
ved in safety. 

The Aurora, a French frigate, was detailed by 
the governor of the island to carry the two minis- 
ters to France. After only ten days' detention, 
Mr. Jay pursued his voyage, and was landed at 
Cadiz ; it being found impossible, on account of 
the superiority of the English at sea, for the frig- 
ate to make her port of destination, which was 
Toulon. On the voyage the frigate was chased by 
an English man-of-war, and escaped through her 
superiority in sailing. 

This termination of the voyage proved not only 
uncomfortable, but seriously annoying to our am- 
bassador, for he was without letters of introduc- 
tion, or other usual means of making acquaintance. 
He, besides, was not furnished with letters of cred- 
it to persons at that place, on which account he 
was unable to procure funds. He soon, however, 
made acquaintances at Cadiz, and, among others, 
that of the governor of Andalusia, from whom he 
received much kindness, and by whom he was in- 
itiated into the policy of the Spanish court, and 
made acquainted with the characters of the po- 
E2 



54 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

litical leaders. Soon after his landing, a note, sta- 
ting his arrival and his business, was carried by- 
one of the secretaries of Mr. Jay to the Spanish 
minister, who returned one in answer, desiring his 
presence at Madrid, but at the same time inform- 
ing him that he would be received informally, and 
not as the ambassador of an independent nation. 

A few months previous to this time the Spanish 
governor of Cuba had made a successful attack on 
the English posts on the Mississippi, and had thus, 
in effect, declared war upon England, although 
the formal declaration by their minister in that 
country was yet to follow. This event showed 
clearly to Mr. Jay what must be the policy of the 
Spanish court towards his own land ; that, in the 
end, an alliance would be necessary. At the same 
time, Spain had many projects for her own ad- 
vancement in America, and her policy led her to 
demand as much as possible from the United 
States, in return for the advantages of her alliance 
and the recognition by her of American independ- 
ence. i\mong these objects was the exclusive 
navigation of the Mississippi. Had it not been 
for the precipitation of Spain, Congress would 
have been prepared to surrender this right, consid- 
ering that, although a great, still it was only a 
secondary object when compared to the assistance 
of Spain. But now Spain, in alliance with France, 
had armed herself against England; therefore the 



J O H N J A Y. 55 

United States would experience her indirect aid, 
even if they did not enter into positive treaty. 
Taking all these subjects into consideration, Mr. 
Jay resolved to make no treaty except on terms 
equally advantageous, and to give way to no 
claims that would operate unfavourably to the fu- 
ture interests of his country. 

Dr. Franklin, in one of his letters to Mr. Jay, 
confirms the opinion of the latter as to not surren- 
dering the navigation of the Mississippi ; and, in 
one of his usual aphorisms, observes, that such an 
act would be as sensible as a man's selling his 
street door. 

The question of the navigation of the Mis- 
sissippi was most momentous. Had the right 
been ceded to Spain, the population of the Uni- 
ted States must either have been confined be- 
tween the Apalachian group of mountains and 
the sea, or that portion of it which, by a spirit of 
enterprise, should have been led into the fertile re- 
gions of the West, must have formed attachments 
and connexions incompatible with their remaining 
in the American Union. The colonists of the pres- 
ent western states, compelled to use the flag of 
Spain in their commerce, would have lost their 
feelings of nationality ; and, although there would 
have been little probabihty that they could have 
been converted into the obedient subjects of the 
Spanish monajxhy, they would have been more 



56 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

likely to have assumed the position in which we 
now find the settlers of Texas than to have re- 
mained the citizens of the Union. 

Jay was thus placed in a most responsible and 
delicate position. His instructions would have 
warranted the admission of the pretensions of 
Spain, and he was aware that a majority of Con- 
gress was prepared to make even this great sacri- 
fice to secure her alliance, and particularly her pe- 
cuniary aid. The negotiations, indeed, had hard- 
ly commenced, when he was thrown into the 
position of a suppliant for money, and thus the 
moral force of his position, as the ambassador of 
the United States, was diminished. In spite of 
these difficulties, he saw the question in its proper 
light, and wisely determined that no prospect of 
immediate relief should induce him to forego what 
he saw was indispensable to the consolidation of 
the Union. In this resolution he continued unsha- 
ken, and by his steadiness preserved the American 
confederation from the greatest dangers to which 
it had ever been exposed, those of falling, at an 
early period, into comparative insignificance, and 
of being finally dismembered. 

The circumstances by which the difficulties of 
this negotiation were increased were as follows : 

Congress, forced by the necessities of their coun- 
try, and not doubting the speedy formation of an 
alliance with Spain, had, in order to pay and sup- 



JOHN JAY. ' 57 

ply their army, drawn bills to the amount of half 
a million, payable in six months, upon Mr. Jay. 
These bills, they hoped, would be met by a subsidy 
to be obtained from Spain ; and their almost des- 
perate situation forced them to rely even upon 
hope, could they by that means procure funds. 
On receiving information of this procedure, Mr. Jay 
w^as placed in a more unpleasant predicament than 
formerly, as the knowledge that she could pro- 
test these bills, and thus ruin American credit, gave 
Spain a greater hold upon the United States, and 
a better opportunity to urge her claims. Still our 
ambassador put the best face on the matter, and 
represented it to Spain as showing the conviction 
of Congress that a treaty would soon be made. 
The Spanish minister kept the advantage his 
government had obtained, and refused to pay the 
bills unless America agreed to furnish ships-of-war 
as an equivalent to the money. This proposal 
Mr. Jay refused. On the arrival of the bills Mr. 
Jay was forced to obtain leave from the Spanish 
government to accept them as they arrived, thus 
procuring a loan to the extent of each bill. When 
$13,000 had thus been procured, the American 
minister was informed that Spain would advance 
no more without receiving from the United States 
the right of sole navigation of the Mississippi ; 
but, anxious at the same time not to close the ne- 
gotiation wholly, they offered to secure the payment 



58 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of $150,000 in three years, could Mr. Jay make a 
loan to that amount. All his attempts to make 
such a loan proved fruitless -, and this patriotic man, 
determined at all hazards to preserve the credit of 
his country, resolved to accept the bills in his 
own name and at his own risk. 

Soon after coming to this determination, and af- 
ter having accepted to the amount of $50,000, he 
was cheered by the arrival of $25,000, sent by 
Dr. Franklin, who had procured it from France. 
This opportune aid revived his hopes, and he ac- 
cepted all bills when presented. Spain, now per- 
ceiving that there was danger of America recover- 
ing from her embarrassments w^ithout her aid, and 
that, if such were the case, the prospect of an ad- 
vantageous treaty would be small, stepped for- 
ward and became responsible for the payment of 
$150,000. 

The private embarrassments and annoyances of 
this year were equal to the public ones of Mr. Jay. 
In receipt of but a small salary, and that irregu- 
larly paid, he was forced to follow the court from 
one place to another, and often, through motives 
of economy, to leave behind him, exposed to the 
dangers of a foreign land, a wife Avhom he fondly 
loved. He w^as also dispirited by want of infor- 
mation from his family and friends in America ; 
yet, in spite of all this, he bore up manfully, and 
managed to send to his family presents of clothing 



J O H N J A Y. 59 

and other necessaries economized even from his 
own scanty means. 

On the 15th of February Congress had passed 
a resolution, instructing their minister to Spain to 
give up their claim to the navigation of the Mis- 
sissippi. Mr. Jay received notice of this resolution 
through a private letter, but was astonished at re- 
ceiving no public communication on the subject. 
He was still more surprised when the Spanish sec- 
retary of state gave him a letter from the presi- 
dent of Congress acquainting him with their reso- 
lution. This document had been placed in the 
postoffice, whence it was obtained and opened 
before its delivery. At the same time, Mr. Jay re- 
ceived notice of his appointment as commissioner 
to negotiate peace with England, and also instruc- 
tions to accept the mediation of Russia and Ger- 
many. In his letter to the president of Congress 
acknowdedging these despatches, he strongly ur- 
ges the impropriety of the latter measure, and 
states how galling it was to his feelings for the 
United States, who had solemnly declared them- 
selves independent, thus to humble themselves. 
He also states that it was not his feelings of pri- 
vate humiliation that he most severely felt, for he 
had always been ready to sacrifice his own pleas- 
ure to that of the public, but it was the humilia- 
tion of his country ; and, had it not been for the 
confidence Congress had reposed in him, and the 



60 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

difficulty of fuidino' a suitable substitute, he would 
have relused to bo their agent in this matter. 

Ill compliance with the former of these instruc- 
tions, he drew up a form of treaty with Spain, by 
an article in which the United States gave up their 
long-disputed claim to the navigation of the Mis- 
sissippi ; but, at the same time, he took it upon him- 
self to state, that, were this treaty not concluded 
before a general peace, then that clause should be 
void. 

Associated with Jay as commissioners for peace 
were Adams, Franklin, and Jetlerson ; and the in- 
structions to Adams, even more humiliating than 
those to Jay, directed him to proceed in every 
matter with the advice and concurrence of the 
French court. The conditions of these instruc- 
tions had been forced upon Congress by the 
French ambassador. 

France, in her alliance with the United States, 
proposed to herself merely to secure their inde- 
pendence of the British crown. This, of itself, 
would be a sufficient humiliation to England ; and 
it would be much more advantageous to France 
were they left as dependants on her, and not ele- 
vated to the rank of a powerful and, possibly, 
a rival nation. France therefore demanded to 
have full knowledge of all the articles of a treaty 
between Great Britain and the United States; 
and, while she secured independence to the latter, 



JOHN JAY. €1 

desired, at the same time, that their boundaries 
should be as contracted, their powers as hmited as 
possible. 

It is a mistaken notion to suppose, as is some- 
times done, that France and Spain entered into 
the Revolutionary contest from motives of affec- 
tion to America. They did it chiefly because, in 
so doing, they had an opportunity of humbling 
the naval power of England, and reducing her 
superiority in the V/estern hemisphere. With all 
these facts, and many more subordmate to them, 
Mr. Jay was well acquainted ; and, in consequence, 
was resolved, while he obeyed the letter of his in- 
structions, to disregard their spirit -, and, while ma- 
king an advantageous treaty, to uphold, as far as 
possible, the honour of his own land. 

In 1781 Congress established an office of for- 
eign affairs, and their minister's intercourse with 
them was in future carried on with the head of 
that office, and not with the president of Congress. 

The government of Spain, which had furnished 
security for the payment of the bills accepted by 
Mr. Jay, retired from its agreement, and thus for- 
ced him to decline their payment. From this em- 
barrassment he was again relieved by Franklin, 
who informed him of a loan made by France, and 
gave him permission to liquidate the bills from its 
proceeds. Mr. Jay again resumed their payment, 
and thus successfully finished a transaction to 
F 



62 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

which he had been impelled more by the necessi- 
ties of his country than his own convictions of its 
prudence. Another letter was soon received from 
Dr. Franklin, urging upon Jay his departure for 
Paris, where all things tended to the opening of 
negotiations with England. In this letter Frank- 
lin observed, as was perfectly true, that time 
enough had been given to Spain to form an alli- 
ance if she desired ; and that, if she did not, forty 
years would no more forward the matter than 
the four already spent. These opinions coinci- 
ded with those of Mr. Jay ; and on his principle 
of always making himself most useful, he soon 
after took his departure for Paris, where he joined 
Franklin, who had long represented his country at 
the court of France, and by whom many successful 
schemes had been planned for the aid of America 
and the annoyance of her enemies. 



JOHN JAY. 63 



CHAPTER IV. 



JVegotiations at Paris for a general Peace. — Jay's 
Acts as Commissioner on the part of the United 
States. — Attempt of the French Ministry to 
control the Commissioners, which is frustrated 
by Jay. — He communicates with the British 
Ministry through Mr. Vaughan. — Preliminary 
Articles agreed upon between England and the 
United States. — Jay is offered the Embassy to 
England. — A general Peace concluded. 

As soon as the commission was organized at 
Paris, the French government, in accordance with 
the pohcy detailed in the last chapter, commenced 
an active interference, in order that a treaty with 
England might be so formed by the United States 
as to suit the views of the French cabinet. Con- 
gress, by instructions to their ministers, had given 
their sanction to this interference ; and we find it 
exerted in the case of the treaty between the Uni- 
ted States and Holland. 

In this case the French court had the unparal- 
leled impudence to transmit a correspondence to 
Congress, informing them that the French ambas- 
sador in Holland had given no assistance to the 
American one in procuring a recognition of Amer- 



64 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ican independence, because France thought that 
an apphcation for such recognition " would have 
no favourable influence." 

Mr. Adams, nevertheless, asked for and procu- 
red the recognition of the United States as inde- 
pendent. 

Not content with intermeddling in this case, the 
French ministry transmitted many communications 
to Congress, stating what were their views in rela- 
tion to a treaty with England. From the tenour 
of these communications, Congress began too late 
to perceive that, in their desire to please a power- 
ful ally, they had too far committed themselves, 
and given a right of interference to a nation 
which would use that right only for its own ad- 
vantage. We find Mr. Jay, during his residence 
in France, busily counteracting this French influ- 
ence, in all cases with success, and chiefly on his 
own responsibility. He arrived in Paris on the 
23d of June, 1782, and in an interview with Dr. 
Franklin at Passy, was informed of the state of 
the negotiation. Parliament had passed a resolu- 
tion asking the king to terminate the war in Amer- 
ica. Ministers had found themselves in a minori- 
ty on this resolution, and had resigned. The new 
ones that were appointed had sent to Paris Mr. 
Grenville, who had authority to make a treaty 
with France, and with the " ministers of any 
prince or state whom it might concern." His 
mission led to no results. 



JOHN JAY. 65 

Previous to his departure from Spain, Mr. Jay 
had been informed that the Spanish ambassador 
at Paris would be furnished with authority to con- 
tinue the negotiations for a treaty. Mr. Jay ac- 
cordingly waited on that ambassador, and was 
furnished by him with a map on which the bound- 
ary-line that Spain would agree to was marked. 
This line ran far to the east of the Mississippi. 
Mr. Jay did not discuss the subject, as he had not 
yet seen the ambassador's commission. 

After a short delay he showed the map to the 
Count de Vergennes, minister of France, whose 
secretary was present at the interview. This secre- 
tary a few days afterward addressed a note to Mr. 
Jay, giving, unasked, his opinion on the subject. 
In this note he proposed what he called a concil- 
iatory boundary, contracting the United States to 
still narrower limits ; thus showing, though in an 
informal manner, that, while the French govern- 
ment desired the independence of America, it at 
the same time wished them, when independent, to 
be as powerless as possible. Mr. Jay penetrated 
these designs. 

Mr. Jay had sent a copy of his commission to 
the Spanish ambassador, and, before he would ne- 
gotiate with him, insisted that a similar copy 
should be sent to himself This course of Mr. 
Jay's placed France again in a dilemma ; for, 
should the Spanish ambassador deliver to Mr. Jay 
F2 



66 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

a copy of the commission authorizing him to treat 
with the United States, by that very act Spain 
acknowledged them as independent, and thus 
France had less hold upon them ; but, on the oth- 
er hand, if he withheld that paper, then Mr. Jay 
refused to treat at all, and thus Spain could define 
no boundary, and America was at liberty to take 
as large a one as she could, and thus be less de- 
pendant on France. Many means were tried to 
force Mr. Jay from this position, but he mana- 
ged to overcome or evade them all. The ambas- 
sador of Spain became convinced that a treaty 
was impossible unless American independence was 
recognised. He therefore put an end to his polit- 
ical intercourse with Mr. Jay, but, at the same 
time, became more intimate and friendly with him 
in private life ; thus showing that, although oppo- 
sed to him on public grounds, he yielded to him 
his personal esteem. 

On the 25th of July the king of England di- 
rected an order to be sent to Richard Oswald, then 
at Paris, empowering him to treat with the com- 
missioners of the thirteen colonies or plantations 
in North America. Mr. Oswald soon received 
this order, and communicated it to the American 
commissioners, who, according to their instruc- 
tions, laid it before the Count de Vergennes. This 
minister advised them to go on, and stated that the 
power was sufficient. Even Franklin, when con- 



JOHN JAY. 67 

suited, replied that he thought it would do. Bu]t 
Mr. Jay indignantly refused, and was firm in the 
stand he had taken not to treat with a power 
which recognised them only as thirteen colonies, 
and not as an independent nation. He tried, by 
many arguments, to bring, over Franklin to his 
opinion, but that gentleman considered it only as 
a point of form. Mr. Jay was now placed in a 
singularly unenviable and unpleasant situation. 
He was obliged either to obey his instructions, join 
with Dr. Franklin, and, according to his view, dis- 
honour his country, or else refuse to treat until by 
his own measures he should produce such a pos- 
ture of affairs as would enable him to negotiate. 
He chose the latter course, and was, in the end, 
successful. 

He commenced by assuring Mr. Oswald that he 
would make no treaty w^ith him under the present 
commission of Great Britain ; and, having suc- 
ceeded in convincing that gentleman that such a 
course would operate greatly to the disadvantage 
of his government, he afterward, at Mr. Oswald's 
request, drew up a proper form of commission, 
which was sent by courier to London. 

The next day Count Vergennes requested Mr. 
Jay to go on with the treaty. He refused. The 
French minister then suspected what had taken 
place, and, after consultation with the English 
minister, Mr. Herbert, another courier was de- 



68 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

spatched, whose mission it was afterward found 
was to give information to the Enghsh court that 
the French ministry considered the commission 
sufficient. 

The English therefore returned for answer that 
they would grant independence by treaty, but 
would not acknowledge it beforehand. 

On the receipt of this intelligence, and from its 
tenour, Mr. Jay observed to Mr. Oswald that the 
Count Vergennes must have interfered. The fact 
was acknowledged, and Mr. Jay now considered 
himself at liberty to expose to Mr. Oswald the pol- 
icy of the French government, at the same time 
pointing out to him the desire of America to be 
as independent of France as of England. He also 
drew up the form of a joint letter from himself 
and Franklin, reiterating their refusal to negotiate 
unless on the basis of independence. This letter 
Franklin refused to sign, and it was therefore left 
imsigned by either ; but it was, nevertheless, trans- 
mitted to England as explanatory of the views of 
the American commission. The turn which cir- 
cumstances now took, and a letter of which Mr. 
Jay became possessed, convinced him that other 
machinations were going on, not only against his 
country's honour, but her interest. He therefore 
was convinced that decided measures were neces- 
sary, and took a step as bold as successful. He 
sent Mr. Vaughan, an English gentleman then in 



JOHN JAY. bS3 

Paris, as his messenger to the court of England, 
and by him intimated that it was now well known 
that America could not be conquered ; that peace 
was as necessary to England as to America; and 
that there would be no treaty unless on an equal 
footing. This measure of Jay's was concealed as 
well from his own colleague as from the French 
minister. The representations of Mr. Vaughan 
were convincing, his efforts were successful, and 
he returned to Mr. Jay, accompanied by a courier 
bearing a commission to Mr. Oswald, which ein- 
powered him to treat with the commissioners of the 
United States of America. 

Negotiations now commenced in reality; and 
the labour of Mr. Jay was cheered by the conviction 
that, notwithstanding he was unaided by his col- 
league, and opposed by all others, he had succeed- 
ed in placing his country upon a footing that was 
as advantageous as honourable. 

A draught of the treaty by Mr. Jay was soon 
agreed upon by the commissioner, and sent to 
the English ministry for approval ; but, at the 
same time, its provisions were concealed from the 
French, and farther action on the treaty was delay- 
ed until such time as France and England should 
be ready to make peace. 

Mr. Adams arrived on the 20th of October, to 
the great satisfaction of Mr. Jay ; for in him he 
hoped to find a zealous assistant, and one whose 



70 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

opinions in all points would coincide with his own. 
Soon after his arrival Mr. Jay held a consultation 
with him, in which he explained the views, policy, 
and machinations of the French and Spanish gov- 
ernments, and was gratified by hearing in turn 
that Mr. Adams coincided with him in everything, 
and was much pleased with the course he had 
taken. 

Mr. Adams soon succeeded in impressing these 
opinions on Dr. Franklin, and the commissioners 
were now united in every respect, determining, 
while disobeying their instructions, to uphold the 
honour and interests of their own country. 

We can imagine the gratification of Mr. Jay 
on finding his measures thus confirmed, and the 
course he had taken, while relying upon himself, 
not only justified, but approved of. 

The negotiation was soon completed, and a 
compact was signed by which the commissioners 
on both sides bound themselves, when the proper 
time arrived, to enter into a treaty whose articles 
were defined in that compact. France was now 
left to make peace for herself, without deriving 
any advantage from her supposed power of influ- 
encing America. The course of Dr. Franklin 
throughout tjiis negotiation can only be explained 
on the supposition that he was influenced by feel- 
ings of charity towards the motives of France. 

He could not believe that a nation which, with 



JOHN JA ■ 71 

such seeming disinterestedness, had fought our bat- 
tles, and spent for us her treasure, would end by- 
injuring that ally whose cause she had advocated, 
in whose defence she had bled. He had been for 
many years a resident at the French court ; the re- 
cipient of admiration and adulation to himself, of 
money, troops, navies for his country ; but his eyes 
were at length opened, and he saw that France 
had aided America, not so much from feelings of 
friendship to her as of enmity to England.* In 
despite of these motives, w^e Americans ought not 
to forget the services of France, and must ever re- 
member with gratitude that, although that nation 
aided us to gratify her own hatred, to obtain her 
own ends, yet, nevertheless, that aid w^as of the 
last importance to our country, and that without it 
we should have undergone years of suffering and 
bloodshed, although, in the end, w^e must have 
conquered. 



* Mr. Fitz-Herbert, English minister at Paris at that time, 
has lately given full proof of what were the intentions of 
France with regard to America, by stating, in writing, that in all 
his conversations with the Count de Vergennes, that minister 
"never failed to insist on the expediency of a concert of meas- 
ures between France and England, for the purpose of excluding 
the American states from the fisheries, lest they should become 
a nursery for seamen." 

The same gentleman also declares that he can safely assert, 
" that it was not chiefly, but solely, through Mr. Jay's means that 
the negotiations of that period between England and the United 
States were brought to a successful conclusion." 



72 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

It was not until the 20th of January that nego- 
tiations were in such a train that the powers at 
war in Europe agreed to suspend hostihties. The 
American ministers had obtained the great ends 
they sought as to boundaries and independence, 
and were now more slowly proceeding with a ne- 
gotiation securing to us commercial advantages. 
Mr. Oswald was about this time recalled, and was 
not succeeded by Mr. Hartley until the spring of 
1783. This interval afforded some moments of lei- 
sure to Mr. Jay, for the first time since he had en- 
tered the service of his country. These moments 
were, however, imbittered by declining health. 
About this time he received a letter from Thomas 
Jefferson, and also a communication from Congress, 
intimating that he would, if pleasing to him, be 
appointed, after peace, ambassador to England, or 
to any other court he might choose. This offer he 
declined, principally because he thought that the 
post of minister to England was desired by Mr. 
Adams, and that the appointment was due to him 
as a reward for long and faithful service ; another 
reason for his refusal was his determination to re- 
turn, as soon as duty permitted, to his own country. 
He was at this time invited by Spain to return 
to Madrid, and finish the negotiations commenced 
there. This invitation he accepted, but was pre- 
vented from accomplishing his purpose by increas- 
ing ill health. 



J O H N J A Y. 73* 

All the belligerant powers in Europe, tired of a 
long war, were at this time represented at Paris 
by ministers negotiating a general peace. The 
terms between all but England and Holland were 
agreed upon before the summer ended. This trea- 
ty was delayed by an interference of France sim- 
ilar to that she had exerted towards America. 
Mr. Jay had the satisfaction of obtaining copies 
of the instructions from their government to the 
ambassadors of Holland, and found that they, like 
himself, had been ordered to proceed with the con- 
fidence and consent of the French government. 
They were not as successful in evading these in- 
structions as the American ministers had been, as 
is proved by the terms of their treaty. 

The 3d of September, 1783, was appointed for 
signing all the treaties, and on that day Mr. Jay 
had the satisfaction of consummating that which 
he had so long been working for, and of securing 
to his own country not only honour, but great com- 
mercial advantages. By this treaty America was 
in the first place recognised as independent, and 
was also given boundaries as large as she could 
desire. A share in the fisheries, then of great im- 
portance to our infant commerce, was conceded; 
and, in fact, every advantage proposed to be ob- 
tained by the Revolution was secured. 
G 



74 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER V. 

Jay visits London. — He is taken ill, and compell- 
ed to have recourse to the Bath Waters. — Belays 
attending the audit of his Accounts. — He em- 
harks for the United States, and lands at Mew- 
York. — His distinguished Reception by the In- 
habitants of that City. — He is chosen Secretary 
of Foreign Affairs by Congress, and elected a 
Delegate from the State of New-York. — He ne- 
gotiates with the Spanish Minister. — Hostilities 
commenced by Algiers, and Report of Mr. Jay 
on the subject. — He is assailed by Littlepage, and 
vindicates himself triumphantly. — He is cho- 
sen President of the Abolition Society. — Fail- 
ure of the JYegotiation with Spain, and Report 
of Mr. Jay on the subject. — His Report on the 
Frontier Posts, on the Slaves retained by Great 
Britain, and the collection of Debts by British 
subjects. 

The objects of Mr. Jay's mission were now ac- 
complished, the claims of his country on him were 
for the present ended, and he determined to do 
what ref^ard for himself would have warranted 
him in doing long before ; namely, to take proper 
measures for the preservation of a life equally pre- 
cious to himself, his friends, and his country. 



JOHN JAY. 75 

Leaving his family in Paris, he proceeded to 
London, and we find him received with honour 
and respect in a country where, but a few years 
before, he would have been considered as a rebel 
and imprisoned. While at London his life was 
despaired of; but he recovered, and journeyed to 
Bath, where he received great benefit from the 
waters. In January he returned to Paris. 

His situation there was one of great pleasure 
and improvement. He was well and favourably 
known by many of the great men of the day ; 
was honoured for his course in the business of his 
country, respected for the uprightness of , his char- 
acter and the talents that he was known to pos- 
sess. His own mind was almost free from care, 
and we find him entering with pleasure into those 
reunions which have always been one characteris- 
tic of French society. One subject only disquieted 
him. He had been engaged in many pecuniary 
transactions on account of the United States, and 
those of great amount. Congress had appoint- 
ed an auditor in Europe to settle their accounts. 
To this auditor Mr. Jay was to account for the 
sums that had passed through his hands. Many 
considerations demanded his return to America, but 
nothing could persuade him to leave Europe with 
any, even the slightest, imputation on his honour, 
to afford any handle that calumny could lay hold 
of, to insinuate that his mission was as much for 



76 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

his own benefit as that of the state. The vouch 
ers of his accounts while in Spain were still at 
Madrid, in the hands of his former secretary, Mr 
Carmichael, whom he had left there as charge d'af 
faires. He reiterated to Mr. Carmichael his de- 
sire that he would proceed to Paris with these doc- 
uments, and thus enable him to audit the accounts ; 
the charge d'affaires refused, and informed him of 
his determination not to leave Madrid unless or- 
dered by Congress. Mr. Jay now found himself 
under the necessity of writing to Congress, request- 
ing that such an order might be sent. On its ar- 
rival Mr» Carmichael obeyed, and in the spring of 
1784, all the business that could detain Mr. Jay in 
Europe was finished. He therefore was at liberty 
to return, and travelled with his family for Dover, 
whence he took shipping for New-York, at which 
place he arrived on the 24th of July. Loud were 
the congratulations with which he was received ; 
many were the honours showered upon him ; and 
his landing more resembled the return of a tri- 
umphant conqueror than that of a peaceful states- 
man. All classes united to honour him. At that 
early period of our Union political parties were al- 
most unknown, therefore no prejudiced party voice 
was heard to condemn him. 

The citizens of New-York presented him, 
through their corporation, with a congratulatory 
address and the freedom of the city. He was 



JOHN JAY. 77 

also desired to become a member of the Society 
of the Cincinnati, but dechned. From the ten- 
our of one of his letters written at this time, we 
perceive that it had been his intention, after a re- 
turn to the United States, to resume the practice 
of his profession. This determination he was pre- 
vented from acting upon by the offer of Congress 
to confer upon him the office of secretary for for- 
eign affairs. This office was, without doubt, the 
most important that could be held under the old 
confederacy. The secretary conducted all for- 
eign correspondence, as well as that with the 
separate states ; through him passed all instruc- 
tions to ministers abroad ; it was his duty to pre- 
pare plans of treaties, and to make reports to 
Congress on such subjects as they desired. He 
had the right of being present at the meetings of 
Congress, and of laying before them such infor- 
mation as he considered necessary. This office 
had been occupied by Chancellor Livingston, by 
whom it was resigned. On his resignation Con- 
gress requested him to hold the office until the 
election of a successor. With this request he 
complied for a time, but vacated the office defini- 
tively soon after, thinking that there was no pres- 
ent prospect of his being replaced. Congress 
had five times appointed a day for the election, 
which was as often postponed. This embarrass- 
ment arose from the difficulty of finding a proper 
G2 



78 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

person to fill the office, and was not removed un- 
til news was received that Mr. Jay was on his re- 
turn, when he was immediately elected. For 
some time he decKned the office, not because he 
was unwilling to serve his country when it was ab- 
solutely necessary, but that he considered the time 
was past when it was incumbent upon him to take 
such service to the prejudice of the duties and 
comforts of private life. His own property was 
to be attended to ; he was desirous to enjoy the so- 
ciety of those friends and relations from whom he 
had been so long separated. Congress then sat at 
Trenton, and it was thus impossible for him at once 
to attend to both public and private duties. Be- 
sides, the appointment of the clerks in this foreign 
office was in the hands of Congress, and he was 
unwilling to repose confidence in those who had 
not been chosen by himself. While the matter 
was thus in uncertainty, he was elected as dele- 
gate to Congress from his native state. It Avas 
soon discovered that Trenton was not a fit place 
for holding the meetings of that body, and on the 
23d of December, 1784, they adjourned to New- 
York, giving, at the same time, permission to Mr. 
Jay to appoint the clerks requisite for carrying on 
the business of his office. Both his objections were 
now removed, and early in the following year he 
entered upon his new duties. These duties, in 
themselves sufficiently arduous, were increased by 



J H N J A y. 79 

the attention necessary to bring up the business of 
the office, to which, for two years, there had been 
no head. 

The first report which Jay made to Congress in 
the capacity of secretary for foreign affairs was 
one asking the passage of a resolution rendering 
foreign consuls amenable to the laws of the land, 
bearing upon crime and debt. This subject had 
been called up by a petition requesting Congi-ess 
not to recognise a Swedish consul who was at that 
time in debt to citizens of America. Mr. Jay's 
resolution was passed. We next find him laying 
before Congress the account of a voyage of an 
American ship to China; a subject that was at 
that time thought of sufficient importance to be 
communicated to the assembled states, and we find 
that body passing a resolution approving the voy- 
age, of which a detailed account had been pre- 
sented to Mr. Jay by the supercargo of the ship. 

The State of New- York was at this time gov- 
erned very httle to the satisfaction of a large pro- 
portion of the people, and Mr. Jay was solicited 
by many of his friends to become a candidate for 
the office of governor. This invitation he refused, 
and gave the reason for such refusal in a letter 
to General Schuyler. In this he states that he 
was well convinced that the office of governor 
was more lucrative, more honourable, and less la- 
borious than that which he held, but that he had 



80 AMEPwICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

been well treated by Congress ; that he possessed 
the confidence of that body ; that his gi'atitude was 
owing to them for many favours ; and that " it was 
his deliberate opinion, that a servant should not 
leave a good old master for the sake of a little 
more pay or a prettier livery." 

We are now about to record what must have 
been to Mr. Jay one of the most gratifying events 
of his life. It will be recollected how long and 
how fruitlessly he had negotiated with Spain; 
with what indignity he had been treated ; and that 
he had never even been recognised as an ambas- 
sador. He was now to resume this negotiation in 
his own country ; to play the part, not of the sup- 
pliant, but of the supplicated ; to confer about a 
treaty, the terms of which he held in his own 
power ; for, by the treaty of 1783, the navigation 
of the Mississippi and the possession of its eastern 
shore had been guarantied to the United States. 
Spain now found that it was necessary for her own 
interest to make an alliance. We accordingly 
find her sending an ambassador, the forms and 
ceremonies of whose reception by Congress were 
dictated by Mr. Jay, who, as holding a seat in that 
body, was one of those who, as sovereigns cover- 
ed and sitting, received the envoys of a foreign 
power. Mr. Jay seems from the first to have had 
no great hope that a treaty would result from this 
negotiation, and his anticipations were realized ; 



JOHN JAY. 81 

for the disputed question of the navigation of the 
Mississippi presented difficulties which could not 
be overcome. 

On the 7th of September Mr. Jay was author- 
ized by Congress to break seals and examine let- 
ters passing through the postoffice ; this power 
was given him, that he might examine the instruc- 
tions given to the commanders of posts within the 
United Sates which were not yet evacuated by the 
British. 

On the 13th of October Mr. Jay made a com- 
munication to Congress, informing them that war 
had been declared upon them by Algiers. In this 
letter he gives it as his opinion that this declara- 
tion was no great evil, as it would consolidate the 
states in a common cause, and prove a nursery for 
seamen. The communication was referred back 
to its author for a report on it. He then recom- 
mended the arming, at the public expense, of all 
vessels trading to the Mediterranean, and the 
building by government of five vessels of war. 
This recommendation was not acted upon, on ac- 
count of the weakness of the government. 

The next occurrence in Mr. Jay's life was one 
which was productive of no little annoyance to 
himself, while, at the same time, it convinced the 
public how pure were his motives, how upright his 
actions in every case. It was a long newspaper 
controversy, produced by an attack on Mr. Jay by 



82 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Lewis Littlepage, a young man who had been 
treated with examplary kindness by him, and 
who had rewarded that kindness by misrepresent- 
ing his motives and actions. Littlepage had so 
far succeeded in his machinations as to produce a 
coolness between Jay and some of his friends. It 
only remains for us to say, that the course Mr. 
Jay had taken towards Littlepage was fully justi- 
fied, although, at the same time, we think that it 
would have redounded equally to his credit, and 
been more consistent with his dignity, had he ta- 
ken no notice of the attack when made, and let it 
have been refuted by the general tenour of his ac- 
tions. He, however, seems to have considered it 
due to his reputation to refute the charges that 
had been brought against him ; and from the ten- 
our of his letters to his friends, his feelings seem 
to have been irritated by this first public attack 
upon his character. 

In 1785 a society w^as formed in New- York for 
" promoting the manumission of slaves." Of this 
society Mr. Jay was elected president, and found 
time to fulfil its duties, notwithstanding the press- 
ure of other business. By this election he was 
given an opportunity of publicly declaring the sen- 
timents he entertained towards slavery. He had, 
at the time of the adoption of a constitution by 
New- York, desired to form some plan for the ab- 
olition of slavery in that state, and seems always 



JOHN JAY. 83 

to have considered that such a course was to be 
supported as well on grounds of political expedi- 
ency as of moral right. In his situation as presi- 
dent of this society, Mr. Jay addressed a memo- 
rial to the Legislature of New-York, praying that 
they would prohibit the exportation of slaves from 
that state. A few years afterward he opened a 
correspondence with similar societies in France 
and England. He continued president of this so- 
ciety until appointed chief-justice of the United 
States, when he resigned, thinking that cases 
might be brought before him in his official capa- 
city having a bearing upon the objects of its asso- 
ciation. 

Until the year 1786, the negotiation between Mr. 
Jay and the Spanish minister had been going on, 
\\^thout having approached any nearer to the ad- 
justment of the difficulties between their respect- 
ive nations. Congress had ordered Mr. Jay to in- 
sist upon the free navigation of the Mississippi. 
The court of Spain had as positively commanded 
their minister not to permit such navigation, or to 
give up their claim to the eastern shore of that riv- 
er, possession of which had been guarantied to the 
United States by their treaty with Great Britain. 

In this state of the affair only two courses were 
left to the United States, either to secure their 
claim by force of arms, or to let the matter re- 
main totally unsettled. 



84 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

They therefore, on the 3d of September, called 
upon their secretary, who, in a speech which is re- 
corded upon the minutes of Congress, gave his 
opinion on the subject. After premising that 
Spain was able and willing to afford us many 
commercial facilities in case of a treaty, or that, 
if war were determined upon, she could injure our 
commerce, as well by exciting the hostility of the 
Barbary powders as by her own arms ; that the 
Union w^as weak ; that many of the states would 
be unwilling to support a war undertaken for such 
a cause : he went on to state, that the course of 
the United States should be to make a treaty for- 
bearing their right of navigation for 80 years, 
thus closing the matter in dispute for the present, 
but leaving an opening for future consideration. 

This speech was very disagreeable to the South- 
ern members, to whom the navigation of the Mis- 
sissippi was now a matter of importance, and they 
unanimously supported a resolution to deprive Mr. 
Jay of the power that had been given him to 
make the terms of a treaty. This resolution w^as 
as unanimously, and in greater numbers, oppo- 
sed by the Northern delegates, who saw and ap- 
proved of the steady policy of Mr. Jay through 
the whole negotiation. They knew that he had 
been unwilling to surrender that navigation unless 
in exchange for the recognition of independence. 
After independence was secured, the delegation 



J O H N J A Y. 85 

from Virginia had proposed and carried a resolu- 
tion, authorizing the surrender of the right of nav- 
igation of the Mississippi south of the thirty-first de- 
gree of north latitude, in exchange for a free navi- 
gation of the river above that point ; and now we 
find a party in Congress, in which the delegates of 
that state were found, trying to disgrace their sec- 
retary, because he proposed a measure leaving that 
right in abeyance, a right of the importance of 
which they now, for the first time, became sensible. 

The Spanish minister refused to come into any 
arrangement even implying a surrender of the 
right on his part, and the negotiation was ended 
by his return to Spain. 

On the 30th of November, Mr. Jay, at the re- 
quest of Congress, presented a report on the fol- 
lowing subjects. Many posts within the limits of 
the United States were still held by British troops, 
in defiance of the terms of the treaty which pro- 
vided for their immediate evacuation. Much un- 
easiness was caused by this violation of the treaty, 
and Congress directed their minister at London to 
remonstrate with the British government. The 
British ministry replied by stating that there was 
another article in the treaty, stipulating that 
"creditors on either side should meet with no 
lawful impediment in the collection of debts," 
and that this article had been violated by the 
Union, inasmuch as there were in many of the 
H 



86 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

states laws preventing the recovery of British 
debts. 

The report of Mr. Jay on this subject was char- 
acterized by fairness and honesty. He felt it his 
duty to point out, that in many of the states the 
laws prevented the recovery of English debts; 
he, on the other hand, asserted that many slaves, 
taken under British protection during the war, had 
not been returned to their masters according to 
the terms of the treaty ; this course of England, he 
showed, might be vindicated on the ground of mor- 
al right, but that the provision of the treaty might, 
and ought to be satisfied, by her paying to the for- 
mer masters of the slaves an equivalent in money. 
He, however, made it clear that the United States 
had been the first to violate their faith, and advi- 
sed Congress to desire the states to repeal their 
laws on the subject of foreign debts. He at the 
same time proposed that their minister should be 
required to demand payment for the negroes, and 
the evacuation of the posts the moment these laws 
were repealed. 

Congress accordingly required the states to re- 
peal these laws, but under the confederation no 
power to enforce the demand existed. 

These reports of Mr. Jay form a memorable 
epoch in the history of parties in the United States, 
The stern and decided expression of his views of 
moral right in respect to the abducted slaves, and 



J O H N J A Y. 87 

the laws opposing obstacles to the collection of 
foreign debts, were unpopular in the exti-eme with 
the Southern states. The better informed had, in- 
deed, no argument to advance against the correct- 
ness of his views, but the less intelligent were in- 
fluenced by their passions ; and although the views 
thus expressed by Jay became the principles of 
settled action under the administration of Wash- 
ington, and were, as we shall see, carried out by 
Jay himself in a treaty with Great Britain, ambi- 
tious men saw that the popular feehng was such 
as would enable them to build an opposition upon 
it as a basis. It may, indeed, be questioned by 
many, whether offering liberty to slaves be a legit- 
imate mode of warfare ; none, however, can deny, 
that they may be received as soldiers with no 
more moral wrong than the deserters of a hostile 
army. In such a case, it w^ill be a matter of ne- 
gotiation whether they are to be paid for at a 
peace or not ; but honour will forbid that they 
should be returned to their masters. In respect 
to debts due to an enemy's subject, it was once the 
custom of war to confiscate them to the use of the 
government ; but the progress of humane feeling, 
by which the miseries of warfare have been grad- 
ually lessened, now forbids such means of annoy- 
ance. That individual debtors should avail them- 
selves of a state of war to avoid the payment of 
their just debts, is a pretension which has never 



OO AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

been maintained by any nation ; and the laws 
passed by many of the states for this object are 
the foulest blot which has ever fallen on American 
honour. 



JOHNJAY. Sd 



CHAPTER VI. 

Jay^s Opinions of the inefficiency of the Confeder- 
ation. — Origin of the Federal Party. — He is 
elected a Member of the Episcopal Convention. 
— Jlcts of that Convention. — Convention at An- 
napolis. — Jay^s Correspondence vnth Washing- 
ton in relation to a Federal Union. — Convention 
at Philadelphia, and adoption of the Federal 
Constitution. — Jay is associated with Hamilton 
and Madison in the publication of " The Feder- 
alist." — The Doctors^ Mob in JYew-York. — 
State Convention in J^ew-York. — The Federal 
Constitution goes into effect, and Jay is named 
Chief-justice of the Supreme Court. — He holds 
the first Court. — His Charge to the Grand Jury. 
— He is nominated as candidate for Governor 
of the State of JYew-York, and his Election is 
defeated. — Public expressions of Dissatisfaction 
at that result. — Jay^s Decision that a State 
might be sued. — Amendment of the Constitution 
in consequence. — Reflections on that Decision. 

The weakness and inefficiency of the general 

government had long been a source of anxiety to 

Mr. Jay ; he saw that, so long as no bond but the 

confederation existed, the United States could never 

H2 



90 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

rise to the condition of a great nation. Under it 
he perceived that they were able to make no war 
without unanimous consent, to observe no treaty 
when made, and that they were even not justified 
in getting a loan, because they could provide no 
certain means for its honest payment. 

These opinions of Mr. Jay were certainly un- 
biased by private considerations, for he held by 
far the most honourable and most lucrative office 
under the existing government. 

These opinions he enlarged upon, and, in his 
correspondence, forcibly presented them to the no- 
tice of many distinguished men of the day. In 
fact, at this time many began to perceive the ina- 
bility of the general government to sustain itself, 
and as many were the plans proposed for its re- 
construction or amendment. It was, as the Fa- 
ther of our country observed, a government found- 
ed on too good an opinion of mankind. Those 
who saw its deficiencies and advocated its amend- 
ment took the name of Federalists. Mr. Jay was 
a member of this party, and always continued so. 

About this time Mr. Jay had been elected 
a member of an Episcopal convention, one of 
whose objects was to secure the consecration of 
American bishops by those holding that station in 
England. A communication requesting this fa- 
vour had been transmitted, and a reply was re- 
ceived granting the request, provided some speci- 



JOHN JAY. 91 

fied alterations were made in the liturgy. The 
Convention appointed a committee to draw an an- 
swer to this communication. Mr. Jay objected to 
the proposed answer as too submissive ; he was 
then placed on the committee himself, and framed 
an answer w^hich was approved of. By his con- 
sent to serve in this convention, he manifested that 
regard for the observances of religion, and that 
piety which had characterized him from his early 
years. This trait in his character is one that may 
be referred to as the mainspring of his actions in 
many cases. 

In January, 1786, the delegates from Virginia to 
Congress had proposed a convention of the states 
at Annapolis, to take measures to secure a uniform 
system of commercial regulations amongthe states, 
and this proposed measure is referred to by Mr. 
Jay in his letters as the first act taken to bring 
about a better state of affairs. The convention 
consisted of the delegates of only five states, prob- 
ably because the measures it proposed were too 
limited to excite general interest. These few del- 
egates, however, recommended that another con- 
vention, to revise the articles of confederation, 
should assemble in Philadelphia the next spring. 

In a letter to General Washington, written in 
January, 1787, Mr. Jay discusses the plan of a 
new government; he states that experience has 
proved that the executive power ought not to be 



92 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

vested in a large body ; that in such a body secre- 
cy was impossible, promptness not to be expected, 
and responsibility so divided that a sense of it could 
not be counted on ; that therefore it was neces- 
sary that there should be one executive individ- 
ually responsible. He did not wish this officer to 
be a king, unless as a last resource ; but thought 
that he might be elective, and styled a governor- 
general. He also proposed the division of the 
Legislature into an upper and lower house ; and 
thus shadow^s forth some of the features of the 
constitution that was adopted. 

In General Washington's reply, he admits the 
conclusiveness of the arguments of Jay, but doubts 
whether the country is yet ripe for the measure, 
and whether, even if carried into operation, the 
new government would be able to withstand the 
opposition of those who were sticklers for state 
sovereignty. 

In the succeeding February Congress recom- 
mended a Convention, and it accordingly assem- 
bled in Philadelphia. Mr. Jay was not a member 
of it, probably because other duties detained him 
in New-York. 

On the 17th of September the new Constitution 
was agreed upon. This constitution was not ex- 
actly what Mr. Jay had desired, yet it was so far 
superior to the old constitution, that he immediate- 
ly enrolled himself as one of its most active, elo- 



JOHN JAY. 93 

quent, and influential advocates and defenders. 
He joined with Hamilton and Madison in publish- 
ing the Federalist, a paper as well known as his 
own name. In the successive numbers of this 
publication the new Constitution was explained ; 
the bearing it would have on points of state 
rights clearly pointed out ; and the instrument de- 
fended from the attacks of those who, influenced 
by the possession of state ofiices, desired no instru- 
ment to go into operation that would curtail their 
powers. 

Mr. Jay's labours in behalf of the new Consti- 
tution were interrupted by an unhappy accident. 
The surgeons of New-York at this time were im- 
prudent in not sufficiently regarding the prejudi- 
ces of the multitude on the subject of dissection. 
They pursued this branch of their studies too open- 
ly : the passions of the people were excited, and 
finally broke out into fury on seeing a human arm 
suspended from the window of one of the stu- 
dents of medicine. A mob arose ; several of the 
physicians were confined in jail to protect them 
from its vengeance ; but the mob were determin- 
ed to take the law into their own hands, and again 
assembled for the purpose of breaking open the 
prison. Mr. Jay being informed of this, seized a 
sword, and, accompanied by some others, rushed 
to prevent their purpose ; they were attacked, and 
a stone thrown by one of the mob wounded Mr. 



94 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Jay dangerously in the temple, and for some time 
confined him to the house. When he recovered 
he published in a pamphlet an address to the peo- 
ple, desiring them to support the new Constitution 
on the following grounds : first, that a better plan 
could not probably be obtained ; secondly, that, if 
obtained, it would be too late; and, thirdly, he call- 
ed their attention to what their situation would be 
if, after rejecting this constitution, they could ob- 
tain no other. The good sense, correct state- 
ments, and forcible arguments of this paper soon 
procured for it extensive circulation; and, al- 
though published without the name of its author, 
many of his friends attributed it to the right source. 
, Mr. Jay was elected one of the members of 
the Convention called together by the people of 
New- York for the purpose of accepting or reject- 
ing the new Constitution ; out of 57 members only 
10 were of the same opinion with Mr. Jay. When 
assembled, the Convention was for three weeks 
occupied in debating upon the Constitution ; both 
sides gave their opinions, but they did not test the 
strength of their parties by a vote. Mr. Jay of- 
fered a motion to accept the Constitution, and to 
recommend such alterations as should be deemed 
expedient. This resolution, when modified so as to 
read on condition of such alterations, was passed, 
and was finally modified by inserting in place of 
" on condition," the words " in full confidence." 



J H N J A Y. 95 

To Mr. Jay the Convention assigned the duty of 
preparing a letter recommending these amend- 
ments to the other states, conscious that, aUhough 
opposed to them, he would discharge the duty fair- 
ly and honestly, if not feelingly. 

In the City of New-York, a majority of whose in- 
habitants were Federalists, the news was received 
with every demonstration of public joy; and ap- 
plauding crowds testified their approbation of the 
course of their delegates, while, at the same time, 
they rejoiced at the ratification of that constitution, 
under the guidance of w^hich the country was to 
proceed onward in its course of prosperity. The 
feelings of Mr. Jay must have been as joyful as 
those of the multitude, and more lasting ; for, ar- 
dent patriot as he was, he had long seen the want 
of this constitution ; long, and at last successfully, 
advocated it. 

Measures were now taken for carrying into op- 
eration the new government ; a president, vice- 
president, and Congress were elected. General 
Washington was unanimously called to the former 
office, and preparations were made for his recep- 
tion in New-York. Mr. Jay, fearing that these 
would not be completed in time, wrote to General 
Washington, asking him to consider his house as 
his home, and thanking him for the pleasure he 
had afforded the country by his acceptatance of 
this high office. 



96 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Washington was inaugurated in New-York on 
the 30th of April, 1789, and immediately entered 
on the duties of his office. The president entertain- 
ed the highest opinion of the talents and patriotism 
of Mr. Jay, and manifested it by desiring him to 
accept such office as was most agreeable to him, 
and in which he could best display his abilities. 
His early education, his after career, and the pe- 
culiar bias of his mind, combining with the con- 
viction that in it he could be most useful, led him 
to choose the office of chief-justice of the United 
States. His post as secretary of foreign affairs 
was vacated by the formation of a new govern- 
ment ; but, at the request of Washington, he per- 
formed the duties of secretary of state until Mr. 
Jefferson arrived from France. 

On the 3d of April, 1790, the chief-justice held 
at New-York his first court. In his charge to the 
jury he thought proper to remind them of the sit- 
uation in which they were placed, and brought be- 
fore them some of his own thoughts upon the char- 
acter, mode of formation, and uses of the new 
government, and also the duties required from the 
citizen by it. During this month he made a cir- 
cuit through the New-England states, and was 
everywhere received, not only with respect, but 
with honour. Institutions of learning conferred 
their degrees upon him ; local governments gave 
him public receptions. In the fall he again rode 



J O H N J A Y. 97 

a circuit, and, while so doing, manifested the 
confidence reposed in him by the first man in 
th^ country, by writing to the president, propo- 
sing to him subjects to be brought before Con- 
gress at their ensuing session. Among these, he 
recommended measures for the improvement of 
our intercourse with the Indians ; laws for the 
coinage; the preservation of old and establish- 
ment of new fortresses ; and also the inspection 
of articles of export. The president replied by 
requesting farther communications, and indicating 
the way of forwarding them so that they might be 
received. 

During the year 1791, the time of the chief- 
justice was wholly taken up by attending to his 
official duties. The charges of the chief-justice 
to juries during this year were generally w^ell-writ- 
ten essays, in which he laid down moral and po- 
litical principles, and proved the necessity of con- 
forming to them. 

During the year 1792 much dissatisfaction was 
expressed by many of the inhabitants of New- 
York at the course pursued by their governor; it 
w^as therefore determined to oppose him, and, if 
possible, prevent his re-election. It was necessa- 
ry to decide upon an opposition candidate, and 
Mr. Jay w^as honoured by the choice. His nom- 
ination was first decided upon at a meeting of the 
citizens of New-York, and was soon approved of 
I 



98 jtTMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

by the opposition throughout the state. Mr. Jay 
accepted this nomination, in conformity with the 
opinions he had expressed when rejecting a Hke 
nomination some years before. He thought that 
the time had now arrived when he was called upon 
by a prevailing discontent, and by a general con- 
viction of the insufficiency of their ruler, to accept 
that office, the reform of which he was the most 
capable to perfect. He could have been actuated 
by no motives of private benefit in accepting this 
nomination; for, if he were elected, he would be 
obliged to resign an office equally honourable, 
less dependant for its permanency on mere popu- 
larity, while, at the same time, it was more lucra- 
tive, and more congenial to his inclinations. The 
friends of the party in power roused themselves to 
combat this powerful opposition ; and, as one means 
of doing so, attacked and exaggerated many of 
the actions and well-known opinions of Jay. 
They, in a state, the majority of whose inhabi- 
tants had been antifederalists, attacked his course, 
and misrepresented his motives in regard to the 
adoption of the Constitution. They tried to carry 
into politics his opinions on the subject of slavery, 
and incited against him slave owners, by decla- 
ring that, if in powder, he would rob them of their 
slaves v;ho were fit to labour, and oblige them to 
educate those who were yet too young to work. 
Of these attacks and insinuations he took no pub- 



JOHN JAY. 99 

lie notice ; but his private feelings were excited 
by the turning against him and the active oppo- 
sition of his old friend Chancellor Livingston. 
A letter was addressed to Livingston, in one of 
the papers, couched in a high tone of feeling ; 
many of his partisans spread the opinion that this 
was a production of Mr. Jay ; and one of them, in 
the same newspaper, replied to Mr. Jay as its au- 
thor. He publicly disavowed it as his production. 

Mr. Jay was absent from the state during the 
election. His letters during this period show how 
little his feelings were interested in the result; 
even to his wife he never alludes to the subject, 
except when forced, and declares that he is per- 
fectly resigned and unconcerned about his success 
or defeat. 

Although Mr. Jay had, without doubt, a majori- 
ty of votes, he w^as not returned as elected, for 
reasons which we shall proceed to explain. By 
law, all the ballots were to be transmitted by the 
sheriffs of the different counties to a committee ap- 
pointed by the Legislature to canvass them. This 
committee, named by the party in power, took ad- 
vantage of an informality in the appointment of 
sheriffs. The sheriffs had been in the habit of per- 
forming the duties of their office beyond the time 
for which they had been appointed, and until it 
was found convenient to nominate and induct into 
office a successor. Custom and expediency alone. 



100 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

not positive law, had sanctioned this practice. 
The committee on elections so decided, and threw 
out the votes of those counties which were brought 
in by sheriffs holding office according to this cus- 
tom. By taking advantage of this and some oth- 
er slight informalities, they reduced Mr. Jay's votes 
from a majority to a minority, and declared Mr. 
Clinton elected governor of the state. The minor- 
ity of the committee entered a protest against these 
proceedings. An intense public feeling was exci- 
ted throughout the state ; and those were not want- 
ing who advised Mr. Jay to assume the office of 
governor, assuring him that he would be support- 
ed in such a course by a majority of the inhabi- 
tants of the state. Happily for the community, 
he was no demagogue ambitious for party superi- 
ority and public power, and therefore refused this 
advice, considering that it was the duty of him- 
self and all good citizens rather to suffer a pres- 
ent wrong than to right themselves by violence. 

In February, 1793, the Supreme Court was 
held at Philadelphia, and a case perfectly novel, 
and interesting from its bearing upon the new 
Constitution, was brought before it for decision. 
The case was this : an inhabitant of one state 
sued the government of another state. The state 
so sued refused to appear, on the grounds that, be- 
ing sovereign and independent, it could be brought 
before no tribunal. One of the principal objec- 



JOHN JAY. 101 

tions to the new Constitution had been that, when 
carried into effect, it would impair state rights 
and do away with state sovereignty. It no doubt 
did this in some degree, and it was now to be 
seen whether the officer charged with that duty 
would carry into effect such a provision in the 
face of a strong opposition. But Mr. Jay had 
firmness enough to avow any opinion, provided he 
knew it to be consistent with his duty and his 
principles. He therefore, on the following grounds, 
decided that the State of Georgia could be sued. 
He admitted that the state was sovereign, and then 
inquired who exercised the sovereignty; it was 
not the governor, it w^as not the legislature, but the 
people ; the people were the sovereigns : there- 
fore it was not an individual suing a kingdom, 
but one sovereign contending against others; it 
was a contest between equals. He declared that 
all admitted that one city might sue another ; one 
state bring an action against another state ; then 
why not one citizen, who exercised a portion of 
the state sovereignty. He admitted that it would 
be impossible to sue the United States, because 
there was no superior power to enforce a decision 
when given ; this was not the case with a state, 
to whom the United States was a superior. 

By this decision great jealousy was excited in 
the different states, great alarm for the deprival of 
their power. Their legislatures therefore took 
12 



102 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

measures for amending such portions of the Con- 
stitution as gave authority for this opinion of the 
chief-justice, and at the ensuing session of Con- 
gress the amendment was agreed to. 

There can be Httle doubt that the decision of 
Mr. Jay was not only consistent with the existing 
provisions of the Constitution, but was founded 
on strict justice. That the general government 
should, by an amendment of the Constitution, re- 
move the ground for popular clamour, was per- 
haps politic and expedient, but the strength of the 
Union has been manifestly impaired by the deci- 
sion. It is within the limits of probability that 
acts may be committed by some one state against 
the citizens of another, which, if there be no tri- 
bunal possessed of power to afford redress, may 
lead to reprisals and involve actual hostilities. 
We might, however, have expected that, on this 
occasion, the chief-justice would have emancipated 
himself at once from the shackles of the old feu- 
dal doctrine that " the king can do no wrong." 
Had he boldly declared that the government of 
the United States itself could be made the defend- 
ant in a civil action, in consequence of the source of 
power having passed from a monarch to the peo- 
ple, he would have met the difficulty in its very 
origin, and would have removed at once the only 
legal oppression to which the citizens of the Uni- 
ted States are now subjected. 



JOHN JAY. 103 

It seems an anomaly, that, in a government 
founded upon the principle of popular sovereign- 
ty, the individual members of the ruling body 
should have no legal remedy for the oppression of 
their own servants, no means of obtaining a judi- 
cial decision in respect to disputed accounts. 

The time seems to be at hand when the neces- 
sity of affording to the public creditor, whether of 
the state or of the general government, a remedy 
by law, and to those stigmatized as defaulters the 
means of proving their purity in open court, can- 
not be gainsaid. We may therefore hope for 
a legislative action on this subject by Congress, 
which will allow the general government to be 
impleaded as a defendant in a suit at law, and 
that this will be imitated by the state legislatures. 



104 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER Vn. 

Question of Neutrality in the War between France 
and England. — Washington'' s Proclamation. — 
Arrival of Genet. — Jittempt at fitting out 
French Privateers. — Jay^s Charge to the Grand 
Jury at RlcJwiond. — Aggressions of Great 
Britain. — Washington determines to send a 
special Minister to England, and selects Jay for 
the purpose. — Jay proceeds to London. — His 
JYegotiations with Lord Grenville. — He con- 
cludes a Treaty. — Loud Dissatisfaction express- 
ed by the anti-Federal Pai'ty. — Treaty ratified 
by the President and Senate. — Its Provisions ap- 
proved by the House of Representatives. — Mer- 
its of Jay^s Treaty, and comparison of it with 
that negotiated by Mr. Monroe. 

Our foreign relations now began to excite great 
attention. It became necessary for the govern- 
ment of the United States to decide upon its 
course with regard to neutraUty with all, or a war 
with some of the powers in Europe. The French 
king had been dethroned, and republican France 
appealed strongly to the sympathies of America. 
If the latter assisted France, she must have warred 
against England j and many would have appro- 



JOHN JAY. 105 

ved of such a measure, impelled by ancient ani- 
mosity against the latter country, and hating her, 
not only for this reason, but because she had not 
fulfilled some of the obligations imposed upon her 
by the late treaty. A strong French party was 
formed, and Washington found it necessary to is- 
sue his celebrated proclamation of neutrality. 
When his opinions were thus publicly declared, 
his decision was arraigned, the purity of his mo- 
tives was questioned by that party w'hich had, as 
anti-Federalists, been opposed to him, and who 
now arrayed themselves on the side of France. 
These dissensions were fomented, these hostilities 
to government encouraged, by the arrival in the 
country of Genet, who was openly the minister of 
France, secretly an agent to stir up this country 
to a war with England. This man, on his arrival 
at Charleston, distributed French commissions ; and 
w^hen he reached Philadelphia, with utter disre- 
gard of the laws, and in despite of the president's 
proclamation, proceeded to fit out French priva- 
teers at various ports, thus proving by what a 
strong party he was supported. Mr. Jay, in his 
charge to the grand-jury of the Circuit Court of 
the United States then assembled at Richmond, 
alludes to these troubles, and declares it to be 
their duty to present for prosecution those who vi- 
olated the national neutrality. When Mr. Genet, 
the French minister, was informed that force would 



106 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

be used, if necessary, to prevent a privateer he had 
equipped from proceeding to sea, he declared his 
intentions of appeahng from the president to the 
people, and thus of executing his intentions by vi- 
olence. Some of the papers defended this course, 
and encouraged this insult to the Father of his 
Country. Mr. Jay and Rufus King published a 
communication in one of the papers, stating that 
Mr. Genet had avowed such intentions; they 
were, in consequence, bitterly assailed by those 
who sided with the French interest. 

These dissensions were increased by the acts of 
England ; and, to the animosity already excited 
against her, she added fresh force by her vexatious 
interference with American commerce. She is- 
sued an order, by which it was rendered lawful 
for all vessels carrying grain to France to be seiz- 
ed and carried to England, where the cargoes 
might be purchased for the use of government. 
This order was followed by one authorizing the 
capture of all vessels carrying supplies to French 
colonies. Both these edicts fell heavily on the 
commerce of the United States. The right of 
searching American vessels, and impressing from 
them seamen called Enghsh, was insisted upon and 
practised. Congress viewed these measures with 
alarm and distrust; a portion of the nation protest- 
ed against them in terms equally disrespectful to 
their own government and that of England ; meas- 



JOHN JAY. 107 

ures for retaliation were agitated by both, and, in 
the mean time, an embargo for thirty days was 
laid upon the American vessels then in port and 
bound for foreign countries. General Washing- 
ton, whose measures were then supported only by 
a minority in Congress, was opposed to all hesi- 
tating policy, and determined either to obtain 
honourable peace or wage open war. He Avisely 
thought the former course as consistent with the 
honour, and more advantageous to the interests of 
his country. He was assailed in this course by 
party enmity, by political opprobrium ; yet, in 
despite of all this, in despite of the loss of popu- 
larity, he determined, with his usual wisdom, to 
make one more effort for peace. He resolved 
to send an envoy to England, to remonstrate 
with the British government, and urge upon it the 
advantages of the preservation of peace with 
America. He selected Mr. Jay for this important 
office, and thus publicly manifested that faith and 
confidence which he had long privately reposed 
in him. The nomination of Mr. Jay was opposed 
in the Senate, but finally approved of by a vote 
of eighteen to eight. 

A few days after Mr. Jay's appointment, the 
House of Representatives desiring, as they were 
not able to prevent his mission, at least to do 
away all the good effects of it, passed a resolution 
prohibiting the importation of all articles manufac- 



10§ AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

tured or grown in Great Britain. If this resolu- 
tion, so injurious and insulting to England, had 
gone into effect, all hope of accommodation would 
have been vain ; but the bill was thrown out in 
the Senate by the casting vote of the vice-presi- 
dent. These measures were not confined to pub- 
lic bodies ; but Jacobin clubs were organized, Jac- 
obin dinners eaten. Jacobin processions marched 
through our streets ; and every measure was ta- 
ken to increase the popular fermentation, and dis- 
credit and disgrace the president. He, however,, 
stood firm to his resolve ; and the only effect these 
measures had on him was to induce him to urge 
more quickly the departure of Mr. Jay. That 
gentleman accordingly set sail on the 12th of 
May, and arrived at Falmouth, accompanied by 
his eldest son and secretary, after a short passage 
of twenty-six days. 

Immediately after his arrival in London he had 
an interview with Lord Grenville, the secretary 
for foreign affairs, who had been commissioned to 
negotiate with Mr. Jay. The negotiations were 
carried on with good feeling and friendship be- 
tween the two commissioners, although such was 
far from being the state of the case between the 
two nations that they represented ; and Mr. Jay 
and Lord Grenville negotiated in familiar conver- 
sation, and not according to the usual rules of di- 
plomacy. They were both actuated by a desire 



JOHN JAY. lOf 

to explain clearly what terras they were willing 
to grant, and what concessions were demanded 
by either country. Mr. Jay's instructions bound 
him strictly in two respects. One was, not to en- 
ter into any treaty inconsistent with American 
agreements with France ; the other, to conclude 
no treaty of commerce, unless it provided for a, 
trade in American bottoms between that country 
and the British West India colonies. He was 
also requested, if possible, to secure an indemnity 
to American merchants; to make a general treaty 
of commerce, and to settle all disputes arising out 
of the existing treaty of peace. Mr. Jay perceiv- 
ed that the greatest difficulty would lie in obtain- 
ing the first of the last-mentioned provisions of the 
treaty. He knew that, unless it were obtained, 
American merchants would, and with justice, too, 
demand and obtain war; he knew it would be 
humiliating to Britain to give up vessels captured 
by her orders, to acknowledge to all that she was 
in error when issuing such decrees. He therefore 
laboured so to form this portion of the treaty that 
the wording of it should be inoffensive, its condi- 
tions not humiliating to England, while seeking 
to secure justice to his own country ; and he suc- 
ceeded. Its conditions were, that a mixed Ameri- 
can and English commission should assemble at 
London, which, on proper proof, should award a 
recompense for all American vessels illegally cap- 
K 



110 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

tured under colour of British orders and commis- 
sions. The disputes growing out of the treaty 
of peace were chiefly these : America demanded 
payment for the negroes carried off, and an evac- 
uation of posts held by the British in the United 
States: England required that laws should be 
passed by Congress, authorizing and facilitating 
the collection of British debts. 

Mr. Jay found that England put such a con- 
struction on the words of the treaty as to enable 
her to refuse payment for the negroes. He was 
therefore obliged to abandon this claim, and could 
not, with justice, prosecute the other, without, at 
the same time, making provisions for securing the 
claim of England on his own country. He there- 
fore agreed to the appointment of commissioners, 
v/ho were authorized to secure the collection of 
such debts as could not otherwise be collected by 
the ordinary course of justice ; England, on the 
other hand, agreed to evacuate those posts mthin 
the United States still garrisoned by her troops. 
Mr. Jay also agreed to authorize another com- 
mission, which should award to England indem- 
nity for vessels captured by French privateers fit- 
ted out in American ports. 

All difficulties were thus adjusted, and it re- 
mained to agree to provisions for the future inter- 
course between the two countries. Arrangements 
were therefore made regulating the intercourse 



JOHN JAY. Ill 

between the United States and Canada, and an 
article was inserted providincr for the appoint- 
ment of commissioners to survey and fix disputed 
bound ary-hnes. Congress had proposed to se- 
quester British debts as one means of annoyance. 
Mr. Jay considered that such a measure would 
have unnecessarily increased the hardships of war, 
and therefore, with the concurrence of Lord Gren- 
ville, inserted an article forbidding such confisca- 
tion on either side in case of a future war. Mr. 
Jay, actuated by similar reasons, wished to insert 
an article forbidding the employment of privateers 
by either party ; but Lord Grenville refused his 
consent to it. In pursuance of his instructions, 
Mr. Jay now turned his attention to securing to 
the United States a trade with the British West 
India Islands. He succeeded in gaining such a 
permission, but it was accompanied by certain re- 
strictions, the chief of which were, that the trade 
should be carried on in vessels of no more than 
seventy tons, and that the United States should 
bind themselves not to ship any West India pro- 
duct, cotton included, to any part of the world. 
The first of these restrictions was cavilled at at 
the time of the treaty, as tending, in effect, wholly 
to destroy the trade ; but in the end the very re- 
striction turned out to be a source of advantage. 
Every New-England farmer on the coast became 
master and owner of a vessel; he cultivated his 



112 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

farm in summer; and in winter, loaded with its 
produce or that of the forest, sailed for the West 
Indies. Thus the trade was carried on largely 
and profitably, and became the nursery for a pe- 
culiarly hardy race of seamen; those seamen who 
afterward fought so well the naval battles of their 
country. To the second restriction, it seems sin- 
gular in our day that consent should have been 
given by any American ; but at that day cotton 
was not generally known to be an American sta- 
ple, although a small quantity had made its ap- 
pearance in the market of Charleston. Mr. Jay 
also demanded and obtained the insertion of an 
article authorizing American trade with the East 
Indies, and a commerce perfectly free and recip- 
rocal between the two nations themselves. Pro- 
visions were also inserted in the treaty declaring 
in what manner the two nations would construe 
the law of nations bearing upon certain cases. 
The articles respecting the West India trade and 
the settlement of difficulties were to be perma- 
nent, the rest of the treaty was to endure for twelve 
years. 

This treaty was signed on the 19th of Novem- 
ber, 1794, and the terms secured tended greatly 
to increase that reputation for talent that Mr. Jay 
already possessed. Lord Grenville took an early 
opportunity of conveying to Mr. Jay his opinion 
of the sincere, open, candid, and honourable man- 



JOHN JAY. 113 

ner in which he had conducted the negotiation; 
and Mr. Jay, in a letter to the Secretary of the 
Treasury, states, that the great and almost irrecon- 
cilable difficulties had only yielded to the open- 
ness and honesty of both parties, and their desire to 
preserve peace. He also took occasion to commu- 
nicate to James Monroe, the American minister at 
Paris, the fact that the treaty was concluded ; that 
it w^as in no respect at variance with the existing 
treaty with France ; and that he would soon make 
known to him, in confidence, its chief provisions. 
Mr. Monroe wrote in answ^er, explaining the un- 
easiness excited in France by the news of the 
treaty, and observed that nothing but a copy of it 
would satisfy that government. The recollection 
of French interference in the treaty of peace was 
too recent for a farther manifestation of it to ex- 
cite any surprise in Jay's mind ; but he was re- 
solved, as before, not to submit to it. He there- 
fore replied to Mr. Monroe by saying that it was 
altogether inconsistent with the honour and dig- 
nity of the United States to make known to any 
foreign power the conditions of a treaty, before 
that treaty was generally published and ratified. 

The delicate state of Mr. Jay's health induced 
him to defer hie return to America until the spring. 

Even before the conditions of Mr. Jay's treaty 
were made known, the large French party in the 
United States strongly objected to it, knowing, as 
K2 



114 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

they well did, that an honourable treaty with Eng- 
land would end all hopes of war with that coun- 
try. They therefore successfully exerted them- 
selves to raise an opposition, on the general 
grounds that treaties with any monarchy were in- 
compatible with republican institutions. 

Such a treaty, they alleged, was unnecessary to 
the United States, especially with a monarchy that 
had always proved itself so inimical as England ; 
they called upon the people by their gratitude for 
the French aid, their abhorrence of English tyr- 
anny ; they stigmatized Mr. Jay as a traitor to his 
country, a British emissary bought with British 
gold. Public meetings were called to express their 
dissatisfaction with the terms of the treaty; a 
party press fulminated its thunders against it ; tu- 
multuous mobs assembled in the streets, threaten- 
ing those who favoured it ; and so far did this fac- 
tious and opposing spirit proceed, that a mob in 
the City of New-York, that city which had been 
always first to honour Mr. Jay, marched to his 
residence and burned the treaty before his door. 
Nothwithstanding these expressions of popular 
opinion, the Senate advised the president to ratify 
the treaty ; then were still stronger measures re- 
sorted to ; then did the mob mora strongly strive 
to turn from his course him on whose will alone 
the conclusion of the treaty now rested ; but 
Washington was not the man to be turned from a 



JOHN JAY. 115 

deliberate conviction by senseless clamour; he 
was not to be diverted from his course by the fear 
of losing his hitherto unbounded popularity : he 
persevered in the line of conduct that he had laid 
down as most conducive to the welfare of his 
country, and he signed and ratified the treaty. 
Only one expedient was now left to those oppo- 
sed to it ; this was, to persuade the House of Rep- 
resentatives to refuse to pass the laws which were 
required to give effect to a treaty that had re- 
ceived such ratification as was sufficient under the 
Constitution to make it the law of the land. A 
motion was introduced, declaring it to be inexpe- 
dient to pass such laws : the house was equally 
divided on the question, and the casting vote of 
the speaker was all that carried the appropria- 
tion necessary for fulfilling the conditions of the 
treaty. The house was thus preserved from an 
act which would have been a gross breach of 
national faith, and would have dishonoured that 
legislative body, disgraced the country, and in- 
flicted a direct censure on the pure and godlike 
Washington. 

The majority of the citizens of Jay's native state 
did not partake of the feelings to which we have 
referred, as was manifested by the result of the 
election for governor ; but the opponents of the 
treaty, if not the most numerous, w^ere the most 
noisy, and, in addition, arrogated to themselves the 



116 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

office of being the sole expounders of the popular 
will. It is somewhat mortifying to those who 
maintain with truth and sincerity republican prin- 
ciples, to see the ease with which noisy dema- 
gogues can in some cases abuse the public ear. 
Jay had been among the earliest movers of the 
opposition to Great Britain ; had perilled himself 
in the very van of the projectors of armed resist- 
ance ; and would, in case of the success of the 
British arms, have been a certain martyr in the 
cause of freedom. In his negotiation with Spain, 
and for the general peace, he had maintained the 
honour of his country with success, when Con- 
gress itself had been willing to sacrifice it to the 
pleasure of an imperious ally. He had held the 
hio-hest office which the confederation could be- 
stow, and had yet willingly joined in the efforts for 
forming the federal Constitution, by which he was 
sure to fall into a subordinate position. Yet, in 
spite of all these proofs of the purity and sincerity 
of his patriotism, there were those found who 
could venture to charge him with being purchased 
by British gold, and, what was still more extraor- 
dinary, others who could honestly believe the 
charge. 

The merits of Jay's treaty may be best under- 
stood by comparing it with that which was nego- 
tiated when the commercial provisions it had in- 
cluded expired. The latter treaty was ratified 



JOHN JAY. 117 

under the administration of Mr. Jefferson, who had 
been the loudest of the declaimers against Mr. Jay, 
and had even descended to personal abuse. The 
negotiator was Mr. Monroe, who had interfered 
from Paris with the mission of Jay. 

In Mr. Monroe's treaty no indemnity was al- 
lowed for the depredations of British cruisers on 
American commerce. In Jay's a stipulation was 
obtained for a joint commission, which awarded to 
the merchants of the United States upward of teh 
inillions of dollars. 

By Jay's treaty the right of trading with the 
British possessions in India was clogged with the 
sole condition that the return cargo should be 
landed in the United States ; Monroe admitted, in 
addition, that the outward voyage should begin in 
the United States. 

Monroe surrendered the right of trading in 
American vessels between Europe and the colonies 
of all nations at war with Great Britain, and was 
unable to obtain a renewal of the privilege of tra- 
ding with the British provinces contiguous to the 
United States, thus consenting to our exclusion 
from the outlet of the lakes, the use of which 
might have otherwise been claimed as a natural 
and indefeasible right. 

The mutual right, reserved by both governments 
in Jay's treaty, to lay indisciiminating and alien 
tonnage duties, operated wholly to the advantage 



118 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of the United States ; the principle of reciprocity 
introduced in Monroe's admitted, in its conse- 
quence, British vessels to a participation in trade 
wholly enjoyed before by Americans. 

Monroe, indeed, succeeded in having provisions 
excluded from the list of goods contraband of 
war, but Jay had obtained the right of being paid 
for them in case of their being intercepted. 

Finally, under Jay's treaty, a mutual good un- 
derstanding prevailed for ten years, in consequence 
of the adjustment, with a single exception, of ev- 
ery point in dispute; under Monroe's, barely two 
years of quiet were enjoyed, and it became neces- 
sary to resort to a series of retaliatory acts, which 
finally terminated in w^ir. 



JOHN JAY. 119 



CHAPTER Vm. 

Jay is elected Governor of JVew-York during his 
Absence in Europe. — Appearance of the Yellow 
Fever in the City of JYew-York. — Jay recom^ 
mends a Day of Thanksgiving on its disappear' 
ance. — Question in relation' to the Appointing 
Power. — Change in CHminal Pwiishments. — 
Law enforcing the Observance of the Sabbath. — 
Jay is again elected Governor. — Unanimity of 
Parties on the subject of Defence. — Passage of 
the Abolition Law. — Jay^s Firmness in the Ex- 
ecution of the Laws. — Legislature in o'pposition 
to the Governor. — The Questio?i in relation to 
the Appointing Power renewed. — Jay adjourns 
the Council of Appointment. — Decision of this 
Question and its consequences. — Jay is offered a 
Reappointment as Chief-justice of the United 
States. — He declines to be a Candidate for re- 
election as Governor, and retires from Office. 

LooD as were the expressions of disapprobation 
■which were uttered against the treaty made with 
England by Jay, they did not proceed from a ma- 
jority of the people of the State of New-York. 
As a proof of the confidence which was reposed 
in him, and the unabated esteem of even an in- 



120 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

creased number of electors, he found, on his re- 
turn from Europe, that he had, in his absence, 
been elected governor of his native state. 

The election in which he had previously stood as 
a candidate, and received a majority of votes, will 
be remembered, as well as the manner in which 
his election was defeated by a technical objection. 
The mode in which this suppression of the popu- 
lar will was brought about had excited feelings of 
anger and disgust in the minds of those w^ho had 
on that occasion supported Mr. Jay, and they de- 
termined, as soon as possible legally, to elect him 
to that office which he had been before called to 
hold by a majority of the inhabitants. Justice to 
Mr. Jay, as well as their own feelings, incited them 
to this course, though prudence would have dic- 
tated that it was unwise to elect one, the time of 
whose return to his country was unknown, and 
with whom the acceptance of the office was op- 
tional when returned. But they relied on the 
once expressed opinion of Mr. Jay of his readi- 
ness to serve, and they were not disappointed ; he 
accepted the appointment, and, on the 1st of July, 
1795, took the prescribed oath. Jay was tlrus in- 
stalled in an office that must to him have been 
more agreeable than any other in the gift of the 
people ; he was called by a large majority to gov- 
ern that state, the independence of which he had 
been a chief instrument in securing ; to administer 



JOHN JAY. 121 

those laws and be guided by that Constitution 
which he himself had framed. 

Mr. Jay's first act as governor was the pubhsh- 
ing of a proclamation directing the measures ne- 
cessary to prevent the entrance of the yellow fever 
into New-York. These measures unhappily pro- 
ved of no effect. The city was desolated by this 
scourge ; but, during its continuance, Mr. Jay, in- 
fluenced by his sense of duty, remained in town. 
When the pestilence departed, Mr. Jay issued an- 
other proclamation, instituting a day of public 
prayer and thanksgiving. Conscious that he was 
not authorized by law to require the observance 
of such a day, and knowing that all his actions 
were commented upon by a strong opposing par- 
ty, he in his proclamation stated that he merely 
recommended the religious solemnity, and showed 
that such a thanksgiving was required by public 
gratitude. His motives were nevertheless assail- 
ed ; and one portion of his proclamation, advising 
prayers for the preservation of the life and useful- 
ness of Washington, was commented upon as in- 
sulting to those who did not acknowledge that use- 
fulness. 

On the 6th of January, 1796, Governor Jay 
read his first message ; in it he declared how high- 
ly he esteemed the confidence of his constituents in 
electing him to such an office, an office the duties 
of which he pledged himself to perform " with en- 
L 



122 "* AMERICAN BIOGRAP.HY. 

ergy, impartiality, and freedom." He recommend- 
ed measures of internal improvement ; a reform 
and alteration in the criminal laws ; and the for- 
mation of establishments for the detaining and 
punishment of criminals. The sole right of the 
governor to nominate for office having been de- 
nied, he advised the passage of a law defining his 
power in that respect. 

The two houses took measures for carrying into 
effect all that had been recommended by Mr. Jay ; 
thus proving that their confidence in him had suf- 
fered no diminution on account of his negotiation 
with England. The governor was soon called 
upon to put in practice the opinion that he had 
avowed, namely, that he would govern with, and 
be governed by, impartiality. Governor Clinton 
had held his station for eighteen years. Every 
office in the gift of government was therefore 
occupied by his political friends. Those who had 
exerted themselves to procure the election of Jay, 
thought, and, perhaps, not unreasonably, that " to 
the victors belong the spoils." They desired some 
reward for their services. They demanded that 
power in the gift of the governor should be pre- 
vented from being turned against himself; but 
Mr. Jay steadily refused to turn from office on 
political grounds alone; he inquired not, w^hat 
were the incumbent's politics, but what was his 
fitness for the office. 



JOHN JAY. 123 

In the ensuing September General "Washington ■ 
published his Farewell Address, in preparing 
which he had taken the advice of Jay ; and in 
November it became the duty of the governor to 
call a special meeting of the Legislature for the 
purpose of appointing electors of a president 
While admonishing that body that this was their 
most important business, and demanded " their 
greatest care and circumspection," he at the same 
time took occasion to hold up to admiration the 
character and actions of the great man by whom 
the^ office hud lately been filled. 

On the 25th of November, 1797, the new state 
prison was completed. A great change had been 
made in the criminal law, by which sanguinary 
punishments were almost abolished. The power 
of pardoning was vested in the governor, and his 
sense of duty and regard for the public good often 
conflicted with his feelings in the exercise of this 
right. He refused all applications for pardon 
where he was convinced the sentence was just; 
and it often required all his firmness to deny the 
solicitations of the relatives and friends of the 
criminals, and sometimes even those of the gov- 
ernors of contiguous states. Some of these peti- 
tions were based upon the respectability of the 
connexions or parents of the criminals; but the 
governor thought that the respectability of the pa- 
rent was no reason for demanding lenity for the 
child. 



124 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

During this year, a bill for the gradual abolition 
of slavery was again agitated in the Legislature, 
but that body adjourned without deciding upon it 
in either way. 

In this the last year of his term of office, those 
opposed to Mr. Jay commenced such operations 
as were necessary to prevent his re-election. This 
was a matter of course to Mr. Jay, as he well 
knew the strength of the party opposed to him ; 
but he was not a httle surprised at learning that 
his old friend Chancellor Livingston was nomina- 
ted as the opposition candidate for governor. . 

On the 2d of January, 1798, Governor Jay, as 
was customary, opened the session with a speech, 
in which, among other matters, he recommended 
the passage of an act enjoining the better observ- 
ance of the Sabbath. Such an act was supported 
by the leaders of both parties, and carried by a 
large majority. 

It may now be questioned how far the views of 
the governor and Legislature, in passing this law, 
were correct. It is well known that there are 
many sects of Christians of the most sincere, and, 
in other respects, orthodox faith, who do not con- 
sider the observance of the first day of the w^eek 
as a Sabbath to be prescribed by the Scriptures. 
Among these are not only the Catholics, but all 
the Reformed Churches of the Continent of Eu- 
rope ; and this opinion was held by many distin- 



JOHN JAY. 125 

guished divines of the early age of the Reforma- 
tion in England. The law has, in consequence, 
been but partially enforced, and has had a ten- 
dency to injure rather than aid the cause of reli- 
gion. It may be justly considered as one of those 
which tend to abridge liberty of conscience, un- 
less limited in its .execution to the assurance that 
the rehgious feelings of the majority shall not be 
exposed to be shocked, by what they conscien- 
tiously believe to be impiety. So far, also, as it 
regards the labour of slaves and domestic animals, 
it is founded as well in nature as in religion, and 
is therefore not only proper, but almost imperative 
upon a people which professes Christianity. 

In April, 1798, Mr. Jay, in spite of a fonnida- 
ble opposition, was re-elected governor, and soon 
afterward assembled the Legislature, in order that 
they might take measures for the defence of New- 
York. The country was then threatened with a 
French war; in anticipation of which, Washington 
had been again called upon to fill the office of 
commander-in-chief. Mr. Jay opened this ses- 
sion with a speech, in which he declared how ne- 
cessary it was to provide for the security and 
dignity of the United States, and exposed the in- 
sults that his country had received at the hands of 
the French. The governor's* speech met with ap- 
probation in the Legislature, and all the measures 
recommended or advised by him as necessary 
L2 



126 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

were promptly and unanimously acted upon. A 
large sum of money was placed at the disposal of 
the governor, to be expended in the purchase of 
arms and the erection of fortresses. Internal dis- 
sensions were forgotten through fear of external 
danger ; and even the opposing party admired the 
spirit and promptness of the governor. 

The Legislature adjourned immediately after 
the passage of the acts recommended in the gov- 
ernor's speech, and held their usual session in Jan* 
uary. But one act, bearing strongly on the feel- 
ings of the governor or the prosperity of the state, 
was passed. This law was that providing for 
the gradual abolition of slavery, which was well 
known to be one in which the governor was deep- 
ly interested; he had indeed declared, long before, 
that, were he a member of the Legislature, he 
would not rest until such a law were passed or 
his term of service was ended; three times al- 
ready had this question been agitated ; it was now 
brought up for the fourth time and passed. The 
opinions of the governor on this subject were 
founded on sound views of policy. He felt the 
necessity of putting an end to slavery, and, ac- 
cording to his views, its aboHtion was demand- 
ed, not only for the prosperity, but even the secu- 
rity of his native state. Feeling deeply as he did, 
he was no advocate for rash or sudden measures; 
he was no wisher for immediate and universal 



JOHN JAY. 127 

abolition. He saw the danger of freeing sud- 
denly a population uneducated and long smarting 
under injury ; he therefore sought no more than a 
gradual emancipation; he desired slave children 
to be educated for freedom, and, while receiving 
that education, to be assured that at one day they 
would be called upon by the laws to use and en- 
joy it as freemen. Such were the principles im- 
bodied in the bill referred to, under the action of 
which the State of New-York has been freed 
from the danger of a servile rebellion, and its cit- 
izens from the listlessness and inactivity which of- 
ten mark those owning a slave population. 

Mr. Jay was conscientiously strict in providing 
for the prompt action of the laws, and twice call- 
ed upon the military to overawe a force resisting 
the execution of justice. 

Public affairs were now inclining more to peace. 
The treaty concluded by Mr. Jay had gone into 
operation. Its good effects had been seen. War 
with England was for the time impossible, and 
the efforts of the party which had urged that 
measure were now limited to the maintenance of 
peace with France. In this state of affairs Mr. 
Jay looked forward with pleasure to the time, now 
close at hand, when he would be able, without 
injustice to his supporters, to retire from public 
life ; this he determined to do as soon as his pres- 
ent term of office expired, and therefore com- 



128 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

menced the erection of a building suitable for his 
habitation on his farm at Bedford. 

The meeting of the New- York Legislature in 
January, 1800, afforded to the governor a fit op- 
portunity for descanting upon the character and 
services of Washington, who was then but lately 
dead. This honourable tribute was becoming to 
Mr. Jay, for he could speak of the worth of the 
departed warrior and statesman, actuated not by 
public gratitude alone, or the common bond of pa- 
triotism ; for he could also bear testimony, from ex- 
perience, to the strength of his friendship and to 
his many virtues in private life. The governor 
reminded the Legislature of the unvarying virtue 
of him who was gone, and recommended to them, 
as the best tribute to his memory, the performance 
of such actions, the enactment of such laws, as 
would have been approved of by him when liv- 
ing. These and other opinions of the governor 
were respectfully listened to and concurred in by 
the Legislature, which was yet, as always hereto- 
fore during Mr. Jay's governorship, a body with 
a strong federal majority. It was, however, its 
last session while so constituted, for the principles 
maintained by the federal party were on the de- 
cline. The conduct of Mr. Adams, then presi- 
dent, had caused much dissatisfaction, and many 
joined the ranks of the opposite party. In No- 
vember, 1800, the Legislature again assembled. 



JOHN JAY. 129 

and the governor was opposed by a majority in 
that body ; he therefore, in his speech, confined 
himself to general and less important topics ; and 
the Legislature, although from his prudence they 
could not treat him with disrespect, responded 
coldly and inanimately to his words. 

He was about this time waited upon by a com- 
mittee who desired him again to become a candi- 
date for the office of governor: he refused this 
offer, and soon afterward declined to fill the sta- 
tion of chief-justice of the United States, to which 
he had been again appointed. The letter advi- 
sing him of the latter office was from Mr. Adams, 
then president, who strongly urged him to accept 
a post for which he was so well qualified, and 
the tenure of which did not depend on party su- 
premacy. But Mr. Jay's resolutions of retirement 
were based upon conviction, and he refused to 
serve, on the grounds that retirement was more 
agreeable to himself, and that service from him to 
his country was no longer a duty. 

In February the governor had a difficulty with 
the Legislature, caused by a difference in their 
construction of that part of the Constitution which 
referred to the power of appointment. On Mr. 
Jay's first entering upon office, he had urged upon 
the Legislature the necessity of so defining in 
whom the power of nomination lay that there 
could be but one construction of the law. This 



130 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

request the Legislature had not complied with; 
and as hitherto the governor and that body had 
been politically one, no bad effects had resulted 
from this negligence. Now, however, the Legis- 
lature and the governor were opposing parties; 
the former had just been elected, and were the 
first fruits of a political revolution : those who had 
contributed to the change sought for their reward, 
which could not be gained as long as the govern- 
or nominated to office. The council of appoint- 
ment therefore rejected all who were proposed 
by him, and finally, taking the matter into their 
own hands, nominated for themselves. To this 
dictation they supposed the governor would submit, 
merely entering his protest on the minutes, as had 
been done before ; but they acted upon a mista- 
ken opinion of his character. He took the re- 
sponsibility upon himself, and adjourned the coun- 
cil, which could not meet unless he called them 
together ; and although the civil offices of eleven 
counties were then vacant, he resolved to abide by 
his own construction of the Constitution, and thus 
keep his oath of office requiring him to maintain 
its provisions. Nevertheless, to show that he was 
not actuated by mere party motives, he took meas- 
ures for settling the controversy as soon as possible, 
and sent a message to the Legislature, requesting 
them to decide the question, declaring his readi- 
ness to abide by that decision when legally made. 



JOHN JAY. 131 

The Senate declared their wilUngness to decide the 
measure, but the Assembly resolved that it was 
beyond their power to interfere in the matter, ho- 
ping, by thus keeping the subject in abeyance, to 
render the load of responsibility too heavy for the 
governor to bear. Other measures were also taken 
to intimidate him, but without success ; and no ap- 
pointments w^ere made during the remainder of his 
term. It will be interesting to trace the course 
that the affair afterward took, bearing out, as it 
does, the justice of Mr. Jay's views on the sub- 
ject. When another governor was elected, the 
Legislature, finding that the responsibility in reali- 
ty rested upon themselves, called a Convention, 
which revised this part of the Constitution, and 
vested the power of appointment entirely in the 
council ; by this measure the governor was depri- 
ved of every power except that of the mere exe- 
cution of the laws. The tenure of office, depend- 
ing upon the w^ill of a constantly changing body, 
became as fickle as the wall of that body ; and we 
sometimes find the same office filled by three dif- 
ferent occupants in the com^se of a single year. 
At the revision of the Constitution in 1821, this 
defect was perceived, and the power of nomina- 
tion was secured wholly to the governor, in whom 
Mr. Jay had always insisted that it ought to rest. 
This was the last public political decision of Mr. 
Jay On the expiration of the term of his office, 



132 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

he carried into effect his long-cherished plan of 
retirement to his farm at Bedford, and we thus be- 
hold the character that he had so long played, of 
the active politician, the upright judge, the skil- 
ful negotiator, and the prompt and prudent gov- 
ernor, laid aside at once and for ever. 



JOHN JAY. 133 



CHAPTER IX. 

Jay*s mode of Life in his Retirement at Bedford. 
— Loss of his Wife. — His Independence of 
Character. — His Exertions in the cause of Ah- 
olition. — He is chosen an Officer of the Bible 
Society. — His Opinion on the Missouri Question. 
— He is struck hy the Palsy. — His Death. — 
His Character further developed. 

The retirement now entered into by Mr. Jay 
was not of such a character as that which is 
forced upon the disappointed poUtician or the dis- 
graced minister. His retreat was harassed by no 
feehngs of political disappointment, his conscience 
disquieted by no recollections of ill-devoted talents, 
of principles prostrated to selfish and party purpo- 
ses, or of power sought for and secured for the ben- 
efit of a faction. He could dwell with pleasure 
upon the recollection of energies well devoted, of 
talent well applied. In his letters to his friends, 
he states that it was sufficient occupation for him 
to muse upon the past, to prepare for eternity. 
He now conscientiously devoted himself to the du- 
ties of a private life j he improved his paternal 
acres ; he rebuilt the mansion of his fathers ; he 
was kind to his dependants, useful to his equals.] 
M 



134 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

He busied himself with all the little interesting 
occupations of a country life ; he rode round his 
fields ; he cultivated his farm ; he interested him- 
self in county business ; he was a promoter of, a 
member of societies for the diffusion of knowledge 
and religion, and instructed his relations and ser- 
vants in those Christian principles which had al- 
ways been the guides of his own course. 

The manner of his life was simple and regular. 
He rose with or before the sun, read prayers to his 
family, breakfasted, and then spent the greater 
portion of the day in the open air, often on horse- 
back. In the evening he retired early, after hav- 
ing again led the worship of his family. His re- 
tirement was seldom broken in upon, and he 
regarded the political dissensions of the day with 
the philosophic gaze of a mere spectator, not with 
the eager look of the interested advocate of prin- 
ciples that he had formerly brought forward and 
defended. The first and greatest affliction in his 
retirement w^as caused by the death of his v^^fe ; 
she whom he had tenderly loved, and who had 
been his partner, not only in the every-day events 
of life, but who had accompanied and cheered him 
in his political missions, performing the duties of 
a secretary and most confidential assistant. He 
bore the loss with a resignation becoming one pos- 
sessing his Christian principles, and pressed upon 
his children the duty of bearing their bereavement 



JOHN JAY. 135 

with a similar confidence in the justice of their 
Creator's decrees. Soon after this event we find 
Mr. Jay exerting himself to found an Episcopalian 
church near his dwelling. The church was built, 
and a large portion of the salary of the minister 
was contributed by Mr. Jay while he lived, and 
he secured an annuity to serve the same purpose 
after his death. Occasional visits to his children 
at Albany and New- York diversified his life at 
this time ; but, soon afterward, circumstances per- 
mitted him to enjoy more of their society, and 
his family was enlarged by the addition of grand- 
children. When war commenced with England, 
he, at the request of some of his old friends, gave 
his opinions on that subject in letters to them ; and 
we find him at one time so far drawn from retire- 
ment as to busy himself in the election of sena- 
tors. His influence was supposed in a great meas- 
ure to have secured the election of two out of 
three in the district in which he then lived ; to the 
third he refused his support, believing him un- 
worthy of it, because guilty of tergiversation. He 
was severely arraigned for this disobedience to 
party discipline, but defended himself with success. 
The fearless independence which he manifested 
in this last political act of his life was no more 
than a continuation of the principle which had 
governed his actions both in a private and public 
capacity from the earhest exercise of his reason. 



136 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

While still a boy, we have seen him resisting the 
authority of the faculty of the college in which he 
was educated, not from a youthful inclination to 
turbulence, but on a point in which his conscience 
was concerned. 

In the opening scenes of the Revolution, he was 
fully aware of the penalty which would fall, in 
case of failure, upon the leaders of what the Brit- 
ish government called a rebellion, yet he placed 
himself foremost in the discussions, and was speed- 
ily called by his compeers to hold the highest 
place. In his mission to Spain he manifested the 
same fearlessness and independence, disregarding 
his instructions from Congress when he found that, 
by obeying them, he would waive advantages 
which the course of the government of that nation 
had secured to the United States. The negotia- 
tion of the treaty of Paris is a still more marked 
instance of this fearless independence of charac- 
ter. He saw, or thought he saw, that the French 
government desired to retain the United States as 
a vassal nation ; and, although unsupported for a 
time by his colleague, he boldly pursued the 
course his sense of right and patriotism dictated. 
It must not be forgotten that this colleague was 
Franklin, a man who at no remote period had 
stood first in the affections of the American peo- 
ple, who still was second only to Washington in 
their love, and who, in their esteem for his talents 



JOHN JAY. 137 

and services, did not fall behind that gi'eat public 
benefactor. The communication which he opened, 
"without the knowledge of that distinguished man, 
with the British ministry, is one of the boldest acts 
in the history of diplomacy, and one, the failure 
of which, he well knew, must have, at least for a 
time, involved him in disgrace ; yet he saw that 
its success would prevent all risk of his country 
becoming only nominally independent, and he 
was willing to become a sacrifice in case it should 
fail. His success justified his conduct ; but, even 
in case of failure, he would have retained the proud 
conviction of the integrity of his motives. It is 
only one who can find in such convictions a rec- 
ompense for loss of popularity and pohtical con- 
sequence who can thus nobly dare. 

When, as chief-justice, he decided that a state 
claiming to be sovereign must appear and answer 
at his tribunal, he knew that he was re-awakening 
the whole fuiy of the anti-federal contest, and the 
popularity he then enjoyed with the whole nation 
would be thenceforth confined to the hmits of a 
party ; yet did he not hesitate. What he knew 
to be the sense of the Constitution, he was pre- 
pared to carry into effect, regardless of personal 
consequences. 

To accept a mission to Great Britain at the mo* 
ment he did, called for the exercise of the same 
quality. The feeling of sympathy for the strug" 
M2 



138 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

gles of revolutionary France was naturally strong 
in all American breasts until her cause was sullied 
by so many criminal excesses. Even these had 
not extinguished the feeling altogether ; and, when 
combined with a hatred of Great Britain, arising 
out of the recent recollection of hostilities, it might 
possibly have been too powerful to be controlled. 
Jay could not have been a stranger to the former 
influence. He, too, had perilled his life, fortune, 
and honour in the contest for freedom. Neither 
could the latter have been without its effect, for he 
had for seven years been an exile from the home 
of his fathers, while his paternal estate was wast- 
ed by a hostile force. But he saw in adherence 
to the cause of France a risk of the destruction of 
the institutions which his country had derived 
from the Saxon race, and which had been reno- 
vated, not destroyed, by the assertion of independ- 
ence; he saw in prospective a long and intermina- 
ble war for a quarrel not her own, in which her 
commerce would have been swept from every sea, 
and her reviving industry checked perhaps for 
ever. His judgment therefore overcame his feel- 
ings, and he gave his official influence as judge to 
the support of the proclamation of neutrality. 

His bold resistance to what he considered an 
encroachment on the rights of his office as gov- 
ernor by the Council of Appointment has already 
been referred to; he did not hesitate to leave 



JOHN JAY. 139 

many counties of the state without officers, in pref- 
erence to submitting to what he considered a 
usurpation of his prerogatives. In another person 
this might have been considered, what his oppo- 
nents represented it at the time, as a high-handed 
measure for the support of the party to which he 
belonged. That such was not the case he had an 
opportunity of proving. A year before the close 
of his second term of service as governor, the elec- 
tion of president was to be held, and parties were 
almost equally balanced. The existing law pro- 
vided that the electors of president should be cho- 
sen in the State of New-York by the Legislature. 
It became probable that the vote of New-York 
would turn the scale, and give the office of presi- 
dent to the candidate for whom the vote of its 
electoral college should be cast. It was also ren- 
dered certain, by the progress of events, that this 
vote would be against the candidate of the party 
with which Jay was associated. A remedy, how- 
ever, remained. In the existing Legislature, the 
federal party still held a majority; and, although it 
had held its ordinary sessions, some months re- 
mained before the term of service of the new 
House of Assembly and the senators elected in ro- 
tation should commence. It was proposed by no 
mean authority that the old Legislature should be 
reconvened by the governor, for the object of 
changing the mode of choosing presidential elec- 



140 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

tors. Had this been done, it is now certain, as it 
was then highly probable, that the election of 
Mr. Jefferson would have been defeated, and the 
federal party retained in power. To Governor 
Jay a double temptation existed for pursuing this 
course. He could have defeated a party which 
had not only been in constant opposition to that 
of whose principles his conscience approved, and 
might also have had an opportunity of exercising 
a measure of retaliation for the act by which his 
election had been defeated in the first instance, 
and under the same cover of strict compliance 
with legal forms. In the present generation of 
politicians, the virtue which could have resisted 
that double temptation may seem almost incredi- 
ble. 

We have adverted on more than one occasion 
to the exertions of Jay in the cause of abolition. 
Enough has perhaps been said to show the position 
he maintained in relation to this question. Yet so 
much excitement has recently prevailed on this sub- 
ject, that his course, perhaps, calls for a full ex- 
planation. While Jay, as has been stated, was fa- 
vourable to, and instrumental in, obtaining a law 
for gradual emancipation in the State of New- 
York, it is obvious that he was not prepared to go 
the lengths of the modern abolitionists. He did 
not deny the abstract right of holding slaves, or 
stigmatize those who did so as offenders against 



JOHN JAY. 141 

the codes of morals and religion ; for he made use 
of the services of slaves, both received by inheri- 
tance and obtained by purchase. With a sound 
view of the provisions of the Constitution and of 
the rights of the states, his efforts at emancipation 
were limited to the state in which he lived ; and 
his very position as an owner of slaves and a sharer 
in the probable loss by abolition, rendered his ef- 
forts more disinterested. If he forbore to apply 
to the general government for the exertion of au- 
thority which neither by grant nor by implication 
does it possess, he equally avoided any attempt at 
agitation in those states where the condition of so- 
ciety had not prepared them for the measure. His 
views, in fine, were those of a sound statesman 
and enlightened politician, not those of a fanatic 
and disorganizes 

Mr. Jay became a member of several religious 
societies ; he was elected president of the West 
Chester Bible Society, vice-president of the Amer- 
ican Bible Society when formed, and was, on the 
death of its president, requested to fill that office. 
When informed that its functions were such as 
could be conscientiously performed by him with- 
out interfering with his private duties or hastening 
to its end an already declining constitution, he ac- 
cepted the office, and continued for several years 
to prepare the address to the society delivered 
at its annual anniversaries. He was once again 



142 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

called to give an opinion upon a political subject. 
When the present State of Missouri was about be- 
ing admitted into the Union, a debate arose in 
Congress upon the propriety of tolerating slavery- 
there, and Mr. Jay was applied to to state whether 
that body had the power of deciding upon the 
subject. He wrote to the committee who applied 
to him, saying, that he construed one clause of 
the Constitution as giving this power to Congress, 
and that they would be justified in laying down 
laws upon the subject of slavery to be observed 
by any of the new states ; he also regretted that 
ill health would prevent him from co-operating 
actively with those who were to take measures 
to exclude slavery from the new state. On this 
point his opinion received the sanction of other 
distinguished jurists, and the question became, in 
fact, one of expediency alone. 

In the year 1827 Mr. Jay was visited by a dan- 
gerous disease, during which he was given over by 
his physicians. The strength of his constitution, 
undiminished by early excesses, triumphed over 
the malady, and for two years longer his friends 
were permitted to enjoy the pleasure of his pres- 
ence, the profit of his living example. 

On the 14th of May, 1829, he was seized by 
the palsy while in bed, to which he had retired in 
the enjoyment of his customary health ; his pow- 
ers of speech were so much affected as to render 



JOHN JAY. 143 

it almost impossible for him to converse ; but, 
from the few sentences that he uttered, it was easy 
for his friends to perceive that his mind was not 
impaired. 

Medicine afforded him no relief; and on the 
17th of the same month he expired, leaving be- 
hind him such a reputation both for public and 
private character as has been attained by but few. 

In private life he seems to have been a perfect 
model ; an obedient son, an affectionate husband, 
and a kind though firm parent. Many acts of 
unostentatious charity that he had performed were 
brought to liorht at his death. His tender sohci- 
tude for his aged parents, and his blind brother and 
sister, afford many proofs of the goodness of his 
heart. To sum up in one word all these perfec- 
tions, he was a Christian in the fullest sense of 
the term ; his faith pointed out to him his course, 
was the solace of his after years, the hope that 
made happy his deathbed. He did not preserve 
his religion, as many do, like a precious jewel, to 
be generally kept concealed, and only brought to 
light on particular occasions ; but in every act of 
his life, however unimportant, his course seems to 
have been actuated, first by the desire of pleasing 
his Maker, and next by the wish to benefit his 
country. 



LIFE 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 



JAMES RENWICK, LL.D. 



N 



PREFACE. 

The materials for a biography of Hamilton are 
copious. The early part of his life has been re- 
corded in the first volume of a memoir drawn up 
by his son John C. Hamilton, Esq., and to the il- 
lustration of the virtues and talents of his father 
he has devoted the pious labour of several years. 
The public, however, is still anxiously waiting the 
appearance of the remaining volumes ; and if by 
his consent the published volume has been freely 
used in the compilation of the present sketch, it is 
probably less perfect than it would have been, had 
the unpublished volumes been within reach. 

In the absence of this invaluable material, much 
aid has been obtained from him in pointing out 
the sources whence information might be derived ; 
and thus, although this short sketch can in no 
■way forestal the new matter which will form so 
large a portion of the expected volumes, it may, 
notwithstanding, serve to awaken curiosity in re- 
spect to the character and services of one, who, 
among the heroes and patriots of the Revolution, 
will probably be placed by posterity in a rank 
second to Washington alone. 

Columbia College, Ist August, 1840. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 



CHAPTER I. 

Birth and Parentage of Alexander Hamilton. — He 
enters a Counting-house in St. Croix. — He -pro- 
ceeds to JYew-York for his Education, and en- 
ters King^s College. — His Distinction as a Stu- 
dent, and as a Writer of Political Papers. — He 
makes his appearance as a Speaker in Popular 
Jlssemhlies. — His Success as an Orator. — He 
studies Military Tactics, and receives a Com- 
mission in the JYew-York Line. — His Services 
in the Campaign of 1776. — He accepts the ap- 
pointment of Aid-de-camp to Washington. 

Among the names of those who have contribu- 
ted to the prosperity of the United States of Amer- 
ica, that of Alexander Hamilton occupies no hum- 
ble rank. We shall find him distinguished not 
only as a zealous and useful public servant during 
the important administration of which Washing- 
ton was the head, but as an actor in the earlier 
scenes of the Revolution, as an officer of the high- 
est merit during the war by which it was effected, 
and as the master spirit in the deliberations which 
N2' 



150 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

led to the restoration of order and good govern- 
ment under the existing Constitution of the feder- 
al government. 

No person of all our worthies has been more 
the object of unbounded praise on the one hand, 
and unmerited obloquy on the other, than Ham- 
ilton. Of one of the two great parties into which 
the people were for many years divided, he was 
the idol, and of their principles the personification 
and imbodied spirit. By the other he has been 
stigmatized as a monarchist and the advocate of 
an aristocracy. 

Even at the present distant period, it is hardly 
possible to treat of his public services and official 
acts without opening anew the wounds of political 
warfare. Still the epoch has arrived when the 
character of Hamilton may be duly appreciated ; 
when his military and civic services may receive 
their due meed of praise, not from the rehcs of a 
broken party, but from the unbiased verdict of 
his fellow-citizens. 

Perfect unanimity, even in respect to remote 
events, is not, indeed, to be expected in a popular 
government ; but the American people, as a mass, 
thinks and reasons, and is now in that state of 
mind in which a calm and deliberate opinion may 
be formed. Our countrymen, although often hur- 
ried by their passions into acts that a cooler re- 
flection disapproves; although fickle in their af- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 151 

fectlons to the Ihing, whom they alternately exalt 
above and depress beneath their true level, still 
they have rarely failed to awaken to a just sense 
of their duties and interest, and to render finally to 
the departed patriot the praise to which his acts, 
while living, ought to have entitled him. 

Alexander Hamilton was born in the Island of 
Nevis, then, as now, a possession of Great Britain, 
on the 11th of January, 1757. Pride in the high 
distinction he attained has led the European 
branches of the princely family of that name to 
claim kindred w^ith him, and prove him a lineal 
descendant of that race which little more than a 
century since stood next to the Stuarts in their 
clahn to the British throne. His father was the 
fourth son of Alexander Hamilton, of the Grange, 
in Ayrshire, who settled in the AVest Indies as a 
merchant. In this pursuit he was unfortunate, 
and derived, in his declining years, his means of 
support from the remittances of his distinguished 
son. His mother was descended from a French 
Huguenot family. Alexander was the youngest 
child of this marriage. He thus w^as not a native 
of the present United States; still the island of his 
birth had, perhaps, from its position as a colony, 
more of fellow-feeling for a great portion of our 
confederation than existed, at the time the Revo- 
lution broke out, between the eastern and south- 
ern states. Transplanted to our soil at an early 



152 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

period of his life, he soon entered, with all the 
feeling of a native, into its wrongs and sufferings. 
A similar spirit pervaded all the insular colonies 
of Great Britain, but their exposed condition made 
them cautious in expressing it. Long years of es- 
trangement may have broken the ties that once 
existed between the British colonies in the West 
Indies and those which now constitute the United 
States; but there was a time when they would 
willingly have made common cause with us, air- 
symptoms of a similar spirit have recently mani- 
fested themselves. 

Hamilton, at an early age, was compelled, by 
the pecuniary embarrassments of his father, to seek 
his own means of support. For this purpose he 
applied himself to commerce, and, entering the 
counting-house of an eminent merchant in St. 
Croix, manifested such talent and capacity as to 
entitle him to be intrusted with the whole man- 
agement of the affairs of his principal during a 
necessary absence. At the time when made the 
repository of so important a trust, he numbered 
only fourteen years. Mercantile affairs were not, 
however, to his taste ; he sighed for the means of 
obtaining the advantages of education, and for a 
sphere of activity more extensive than could be 
afforded within the narrow circuit of a sugar isl- 
and. 

An occasional literary essay showed his friends 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 153 

his capabilities, and he was furnished, from the 
separate estate of his mother, Avith the means of 
prosecuting classical studies in the Continental 
colonies, where a wise policy had provided more 
extensive facilities of education than existed in 
the West Indies. We cannot, however, but con- 
sider his early introduction to the business of a 
counting-house as having exerted a favourable 
influence upon his subsequent career. The habits 
of order and regularity in a well-conducted com- 
mercial establishment are never forgotten, and are 
applicable to every possible pursuit. Nor is the 
exercise of a mercantile correspondence without 
its value in a literary point of view. To those 
with little previous education, or who have not 
an opportunity of improving themselves afterward, 
this exercise may communicate no elegance of 
style; but where the use of language has once 
been attained, the compression of thought and 
conciseness of expression on which merchants 
pride themselves, give a terseness and precision of 
diction which those educated in any other profes- 
sion can rarely equal. 

Hamilton arrived in New-York at a most inter- 
esting epoch. A spirit of resistance to the acts of 
the Parhament of Great Britain, which were justly 
considered as not only contrary to natural rights, 
but even to the admitted privileges of Britons, was 
fast rising to that height at which the colonists 



154 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

finally threw off, not only the obnoxious usurpa- 
tions of the Legislature, but even their own char- 
acter of subjects to a king. 

The dispute was indeed of no recent origin. 
Former kings had reproved their parliaments for 
interfering with the affairs of the colonies, and a 
colonial jury had on one occasion pronounced a 
verdict of guilty on a charge of treason against a 
distinguished individual who had sought redress 
from the houses of peers and commons of Eng- 
land for real or fancied wrongs committed by the 
government of his native colony. But the parlia- 
ment had fallen to the state of a convenient en- 
gine of royal power, and the monarch was willing 
to take advantage of its subserviency to give legal 
form to his measures of taxation. The struggle 
therefore began, strange as it may now seem, on 
the part of the colonists, in an appeal to the pre- 
rogative of the crown against the acts of a legis- 
lature. 

Coming last from an island not in the posses- 
sion of England, Hamilton was not at first pre- 
pared to enter into all the feelings of the people 
among whom he was about to take up his perma- 
nent residence. He, however, speedily applied 
himself to the study of the controversy, and was 
not slow in admitting, in its fullest extent, the jus- 
tice of the motives of the coarse of the provin- 
cials. From that moment he gave to its support 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 155 

the whole powers of his precocious and ardent 
mindj and by continual reflection and meditation 
prepared himself for the post he was destined to 
take in the forensic and literary struggles which 
preceded an appeal to the sword. The deep 
thought he was known to have devoted to the 
controversies between the parent country and the 
colonies led to his being urged to address a pub- 
lic meeting of the citizens of New- York. This 
was his first appearance as a public speaker, and 
was made under many disadvantages. His real 
youth, and still more the appearance of it, grow- 
ing out of his slender figure and small stature, 
must have given him the appearance of a boy pre- 
suming to mingle in the councils of men. Such 
premature attempts are rarely successful, but this 
was not the case in the present instance. He is 
reported at first to have hesitated and faltered ; 
but, speedily recovering himself, poured out a 
burst of impassioned eloquence, depicting the long- 
continued oppression of the mother country, and, 
insisting on the duty of resistance, pointed out the 
certainty of success. In figurative style, he rep- 
resented " the waves of rebellion sparkling with 
fire, and washing back on the shores of England 
the wrecks of her power, her wealth, and her glo- 
ry." A breathless silence attended the delivery 
of his speech, which was succeeded by loud bursts 



156 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of applause, accompanied by wonder at the extra- 
ordinary eloquence of so young a person. 

About this epoch he became a frequent writer 
in the columns of one of the New-York newspa- 
pers, and was actually drawn into direct collision 
with his preceptor. Dr. Cooper, the president of 
the college in which Hamilton was pursuing his 
studies. This reverend gentleman, educated in 
the tenets of the High Church and in the politics 
of the Tories at the University of Oxford, was dis- 
tinguished, not only for his success as a teacher, 
but for his abihties as a writer, and his delicate 
and pungent wit. It is sufficient praise for Ham- 
ilton to say, that in this keen encounter he did 
not sustain a defeat. i 

Other and important publications were contrib- 
uted by him to the cause of freedom; but we 
should do injustice to them were we to attempt an 
abridgment. They had no httle influence in pre- 
paring the public mind for the arduous struggle 
which was about to ensue. 

It is to the honour of Hamilton, that, while he 
exerted himself thus strenuously in disseminating 
the doctrines of the Revolution, he set his face 
against every species of disorder and violence. 
Popular commotions became frequent; and per- 
sons, obnoxious either from their principles or their 
infractions of the non-importation agreement, were 
sought and maltreated by mobs. Among these 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 157 

was Dr. Cooper, at the same time the preceptor 
and literary antagonist of Hamilton. His escape 
from the hands of an enraged assemblage is main- 
ly to be attributed to the delay afforded by Ham- 
ilton's eloquent address to them, during which an- 
other student roused the president from his bed, 
and conveyed him, almost in a state of nudity, to 
a recess beneath the gravel cliffs which then bor- 
dered the Hudson in the rear of the college. 

On another occasion he interposed his eloquence 
to disperse a tumultuous assemblage known as 
Travis's mob, which menaced the life of an ob- 
noxious individual. 

When the press of Rivington, the Tory printer, 
was destroyed by a party of men from Connecti- 
cut, Hamilton again endeavoured to repress the 
imlawful act, but unsuccessfully. 

When an appeal to arms appeared to be inevi- 
table, Hamilton, with an ardour equal to that he 
had shown in argument, applied himself to the 
study of military tactics. In particular, he paid 
the greatest attention to the branch of artillery. 
He had previously become a member of a company 
of volunteers, where he had made himself thor- 
oughly acquainted with the infantry drill ; he now 
applied himself to the study in books of the high- 
er branches of the profession, and, at the same 
time, sought instruction in gunnery from a veteran 
bombardier. His collegiate studies were brought 
O 



158 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

in aid of his military aspirations ; and when the 
Convention of New- York determined to form a 
military establishment, Hamilton, in spite of his 
youth and still more juvenile appearance, was, af- 
ter a strict examination, appointed captain of the 
Provincial Company of Artillery. To raise this 
company and equip the recruits, he expended the 
last remittance which he received from St. Croix. 

In command of this company he took a part in 
the disastrous battle of Long Island, and covered 
the retreat across the East River; distinguished 
himself at the battle of White Plains ; and again 
protected the passage of the army over the Rari- 
tan, where, by the judicious position of his field- 
pieces, he retarded the progress of the pursuing 
enemy until night came on. In the brilliant en- 
terprises of Trenton and Princeton he and his com- 
pany bore a distinguished part, and entered winter- 
quarters at Morristown with numbers diminished 
to one fourth of the original establishment ; a dim- 
inution arising wholly from the casualties of the 
service. In the mean time, the main army had 
fallen away, partly by the loss of the garrison of 
Fort Washington, and by the slain of Long Island 
and White Plains, but still more from desertions, 
and the refusal of those whose term of service had 
expired to re-enlist, to less than a tenth of the 
numbers with which it had entered the campaign. 

At Morristown Hamilton accepted from Wash- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 159 

ington ihe. appointment of aid to the commander- 
in-chief; and here his active duties as a soldier 
closed for a time. It was not without reluctance 
that he relinquished the prospect of promotion in 
the line of the army, to which his distinguished 
services during the most arduous campaign of the 
Revolution would have entitled him, for a place 
in the staff. 

Hamilton therefore made no small sacrifices to 
the cause of the revolted colonies. He had ex- 
pended in the equipment of his company the last 
remnant of his patrimony ; he now sacrificed much 
of military pride and ambition, for the rank which 
is acquired by a mere staff appointment is never 
recognised, except with reluctance, by those who 
serve in the line of the army. This feeling, how- 
ever natural, is often unjust, and the case of Ham- 
ilton is a striking instance ; for while his exposure 
to danger and share in military operations was as 
great as it could have been had he remained in 
the line, his return to no higher rank than he must 
have reached by mere seniority was, as we shall 
find, strongly opposed. 



160 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER II. 

Washington at his zenith of Popularity. — Char- 
acter of the Relations between Hamilton and 
Washington. — Review of the Campaign of 
1776. — Campaign of 1777. — Failure of its 
most Important Objects. — Causes of that Fail- 
ure, and Reflections. 

At the moment Hamilton received an appoint- 
ment in the staif of Washington, the latter enjoyed 
a popularity and reputation more unanimously 
granted than he ever again acquired in the course 
of his illustrious life ; he was mature in age, pos- 
sessed of the entire confidence of the public, and 
the admired object of every eye. Hamilton was 
still a mere boy, endued indeed with intelligence 
beyond his years, the author of able and popular 
pamphlets, and finally a company officer of bra- 
very, and likely to rise in the profession of arms. 
It is not possible that, in such a difference in their 
respective positions, any other relation could have 
existed than that of high respect and humble def- 
erence on the one hand, and, if the strict line of 
military etiquette was ever passed, of paternal in- 
terest on the other. But Washington was one of 
the few men who retain equal grandeur and excite 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 161 

equal reverence in every possible position. One 
man only, it is said, and he alike remarkable for 
his impudence and his abilities, ever ventured to 
draw aside the mantle of dignity which invested 
Washington, even in private hfe, and he shrunk 
abashed from the abortive undertaking. Under 
such a chief, the duty of his aids became that of 
studying his thoughts, opinions, and feelings, 
which they were then to clothe each in his own 
peculiar style. From the period of his appoint- 
ment to the command of the army until the close 
of the Revolutionary war, the active duties of the 
field left Washington but little leisure for the 
occupations of the cabinet. Much of his corre- 
spondence devolved upon his secretary and aids, 
but the thoughts and principles w^hich it imbod- 
ied were not the less his own. In the distribu- 
tion of duties among the members of his staff, he 
showed the rare talent of distinguishing at once 
the exact sphere in which each might be most 
usefully employed ; while in his selection from the 
line of the army or from civil life, the same power 
of discrimination was exhibited along with the 
total absence of jealousy. In no other point of 
view is the grandeur of Washington's mind more 
marked than in this. Some men, in other respects 
great, permit themselves to be surrounded by par- 
asites and flatterers, whose unconditional subserv- 
iency to their own views they mistake for acute- 
2 

/ 



162 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ness of intellect: others dread the approach of 
men of talent for fear of fostering rivals, and are 
content to act by inadequate instruments rather 
than run the risk of converting their tools into 
prime movers. The eagle glance with which 
Washington penetrated the thoughts and springs 
of action of others, preserved him from the first of 
these errors; his own consciousness of greatness 
from the other. 

Delighting in the study of Plutarch, Hamilton 
had formed for himself a heau-ideal of human 
character. This vision of his mind appeared im- 
bodied in the person of Washington, who united 
the best portions of the most illustrious characters 
of that author with the graces which are the 
growth of Christian nurture alone. Thus quali- 
fied to appreciate the virtues and intellect of 
Washington, and possessed of a faculty of expres- 
sion in written language almost unrivalled, Ham- 
ilton became the depository of the most secret 
thoughts of his chief, and the organ of their pro- 
mulgation. It cannot be doubted that, excelling 
as Hamilton did all his contemporaries in the ra- 
pidity with which he reached sound conclusions, 
he must sometimes have anticipated the more 
slow and cautious inductions of his commander, 
and that the latter may have accepted them as 
the results to which his own mind would finally 
have led him. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 163 

Such, then, was the original relation between 
Hamilton and Washington^ a relation equally- 
honourable to both parties, and which, with a 
single instance of temporary alienation, continued 
until the close of the life of the latter. 

The campaign of 1776 had been generally fa- 
vourable to the British arms. Lee, who com- 
manded at New- York until the arrival of the 
commander-in-chief, had exposed a large portion 
of the army by taking up a false position on the 
heights of Long Island. It was at first a question 
whether this part of the forces should be with- 
drawn or re-enforced. The landing of the enemy 
at Gravesend settled the question by making a re- 
treat in their face almost as dangerous, and in its 
disheartening results quite as efficient, as a defeat. 
The battle which followed exhibited the tactical 
skill of the British general in a most favourable 
point of view; the Americans were rather out- 
manoeuvred than beaten. The project of the 
British, by which they abandoned New-York to 
the charge of a small garrison, and moved by 
way of the Sound to the rear of the American 
army, and by which it w^as hoped to cause it to 
fight again without the means of retreat, was frus- 
trated by the prudence of Washington ; he gained 
by the battle of White Plains the object of his 
wishes, the safe retreat of his army. In his sub- 
sequent manoeuvres on the Hackensack and Pas- 



164 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

saic, Washington showed himself fully equal to 
his antagonists, but he afterward sacrificed all 
mere military questions to the great object of 
covering Philadelphia. That city being placed 
out of all immediate danger by the affair of Tren- 
ton, he assumed the position of Morristown, by 
the occupation of which he in a moment repaired 
all the many misfortunes of the campaign, except 
the loss of New- York and the diminution of his 
effective numbers. 

In the next campaign the British government 
committed a most important error in strategy 
An army had been formed in Canada, which un- 
dertook to penetrate into the State of New-York 
by the way of Lakes Champlain and George. It 
appeared probable that, to aid this inroad. Gen- 
eral Howe would have acted upon the Hudson 
with the force under his command, amounting 
to thirty-five thousand effective men. Whether 
he had satisfied himself that the defences of the 
highlands of the Hudson could not be forced in 
the presence of Washington's army, or w^hether 
he was determined, in any event, to pursue the ob- 
ject of his last year's efforts, is uncertain. Under 
one or other of these motives, he committed the 
irretrievable mistake of dividing his force. The 
greater part of it was directed by himself to the 
Chesapeake, leaving a strong garrison in New- 
York. He gamed the object of his expedition. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 165 

and Philadelphia fell; but the Americans were 
enabled, by this division of the British army, 
through the exertions of Schuyler, to collect a 
force which, under Gates, surrounded Burgoyne, 
and compelled him to a surrender. Now was the 
moment at which the star of America was in the 
ascendant ; had the battalions which foiled in the 
open field the veterans of England and Germany, 
and which, aided by the militia, prevented their 
retreat, been forthwith despatched to the assist- 
ance of Washington, Howe must also have laid 
down his arms. The water defences of the Dela- 
ware were still unbroken, and he had no means 
of retreat nor of receiving re-enforcements: he 
could not, in consequence, have adopted the bold 
measure which his successor in command was 
enabled to carry into effect the next summer, of 
marching across Jersey in the very face of the 
American army. 

Washington was, however, now sensible of a 
public feeling which would have supported Gates 
in refusing to obey orders to join him with his 
whole force; he had also reason to suspect the 
existence of a party that would have taken ad- 
vantage of any disaster which might have follow- 
ed the weakening of the Northern army, to pursue 
him to ruin. He was, in consequence, compelled 
to limit his demands for re-enforcements to a mere 
request, subject to the discretion of Gates himself. 



166 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

This request he however followed up by the mis- 
sion of a trusty agent, empowered to issue orders 
in his name in case of need. This agent was 
Hamilton, and he executed his delicate and dif- 
ficult task to the entire satisfaction of his com- 
mander. But, honourable as was the result of the 
mission to the agent who performed it, the antici- 
pated advantages were lost by delay. The wa- 
ter-guard was forced before the re-enforcements 
joined the army, and Howe received by the way 
of the Delaware such additional strength as ena- 
bled him to defy the attack of the Americans, 
although he did not venture to engage in a battle 
which he had at first sought. 

It may at the present epoch be no subject of re- 
gret, that the war was not closed by the captm*e 
of Howe at the end of the campaign of 1777 ; 
much of individual suffering, much loss of private 
wealth might indeed have been spared, but we 
question whether the nation would have emerged 
from the conquest with that capacity for self-gov- 
ernment it has since exhibited. The trials and 
sufferings which attended the latter years of the 
Revolutionary war ; the total downfall of public 
credit, which began in and followed them ; the lo- 
cal disturbances, which threatened to break up the 
confederated colonies into numerous petty and 
hostile states, were all necessary to prepare us for 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 167 

that happy Constitution which has been for so 
many years the pride and boast of America. 

The vakie of which such lessons of adversity 
have been to the people of the United States, fur- 
nishes no excuse for those w^ho were the instru- 
ments by which they were taught. We are at 
this distant day often inclined to speak and think 
of the Revolution as a series of events out of 
the ordinary course of human experience. We 
seem to find in it a civil war without vices or in- 
trigues on the side of the successful party. We 
clothe the WTiigs of the Revolution with all the 
virtues of humanity, while the Tories, unfortu- 
nate not only in the downfal of their cause, but 
in the estimate which has been formed of their 
character, are held up to posterity as examples 
of perfidy and cruelty. Much, however, is to be 
said in favour of the latter. It is no easy matter 
to dissolve at once the prejudices of education, 
to sever the ties of consanguinity and fellow-citi- 
zenship. Nor did the W^higs and Tories differ in 
the first instance to the extreme extent to which, 
by subsequent events, they were carried. Some 
of those who were in the beginning ardent op- 
ponents to the oppressive acts of Great Britain, 
hesitated when the Declaration of Independence 
was discussed, and withdrew from the councils of 
the nation rather than sign it. They could not 
bring their minds to forego those very rights and 



168 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

privileges as Britons, for the assertion of which 
they had been wilhng to take up arms, and peril 
their Uves, fortunes, and honours. In other in- 
stances, the opponents of the ministry which had 
laid the stamp tax, and thus the very leaders of 
the resistance of the colonies, had become the 
confidential agents of their successors in office. 

Of those Tories who joined the royal cause in 
the hope of enriching themselves by the confisca- 
tion of rebel estates, or who bore arms against 
their country i^ the pursuit of plunder and pillage, 
no language is too strong to express the crimes. 
But to those who, from a sense of loyal devotion, 
assumed the position of fair and honourable foes, 
or who would not betray the confidence which 
had been placed in them by the British govern- 
ment, we may now speak with feelings such as 
the unfortunate adherents of the house of Stuart 
in 1745 are regarded in England. In both cases, 
many jeoparded their lives and fortunes in a cause 
they knew to be hopeless, and in compliance rath- 
er with a sense of honour than a conviction of its 
justice. 

The cause of the Whigs, on the other hand, was 
not espoused by all from motives equally pure. 
Young and ardent spirits saw in the convulsions 
of a revolution openings for promotion which the 
royal government had denied them. Covetous 
and calculating men looked to the estates of the 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 169 

rich loyalists as a si^bject of confiscation and di- 
vision, while those of less ambition were content 
with treating as enemies those of their country- 
men whose misfortmie rather than their fault had 
enclosed as submissive captives within the out- 
posts of the British army; and there were some 
who, like vultures, hovered between the lines of 
the contending parties, and impartially plundered 
both. 

As in all other revolutions, personal motives 
were mixed up in that of America even with 
real patriotism; and demagogues who possessed 
none of the latter feeling, assumed its mask to 
cover their ambitious designs. 

The ardent love of country which had distin- 
guished the first two Congresses may still have 
influenced their successors, but it was no longer 
pure from all interested motives. The appoint- 
ment of Washington as commander-in-chief had 
been made by a resolution of which the mover 
was the representative of an Eastern state, and 
for a time all sectional jealousies were unfelt. In 
the second year of his service in this capacity he 
received from Congress a proof of confidence 
never since given to any citizen, for he was, in 
fact, invested with all the power of a dictator. 
But a succeeding Congress not only gave up, un- 
called, the supreme authority which their prede- 
cessors had thus exercised, contenting themselves 
P 



170 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

with the mere privilege of advice, but became the 
sport of an intrigue, by which Washington was to 
have been hurled from his elevated station with 
as little ceremony as if he had been a mere sol- 
dier of fortune. At this distant day it is hardly 
possible to trace the hidden movements of the ca- 
bal by which this attempt to force him into retire- 
ment was made ; still there is positive evidence of 
the existence of a combination for the purpose ; 
and, although it was ineffectual in attaining its 
object, it prevented the war from being brought to 
a decisive result for several years. 

The movements of this cabal had so great an 
influence upon the subsequent fortunes of Hamil- 
ton, that they require to be examined in detail. 
As the aid of the commander-in-chief, he was the 
confidential minister of his magnanimous efforts to 
meet the envy and malevolence of some, and the 
misdirected energy of others ; and it was proba- 
bly from his tried and faithful service at this junc- 
ture that he acquired the unalterable good opin- 
ion of Washington, and secured himself in that 
relation which gave him so great an influence in 
the events which led to and succeeded the adop- 
tion of the federal Constitution. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 171 



CHAPTER m. 

Influences which were brought to bear against 
Washington. — Lee looked up to as a Leader. — 
Gates brought forward in that Capacity. — Jic- 
cession of Mifflin. — Jicts of Congress. — Their 
probable Motives. — State of the Public Mind. — 
Cessation of active Warfare in the JSTorth. — 
Hamilton resigns his Station of Aid-de-camp. — 
Views of the British Government. 

The secret influences that nearly caused the loss 
of the services of Washington to his country may 
be briefly comprised under the following heads : 
1. The objection of the Eastern states, whose pop- 
ulation filled the ranks of the army, to a com- 
mander of Southern birth. 2. The disaffection 
growing out of the frequent demand of the servi- 
ces of the militia, and its repugnance to strict dis- 
cipline. 3. The existence of a party opposed to 
Washington among the officers of the army itself, 
and the final accession to this party of a cabal in 
the general Congress. 

It was necessary to find a person of distinguish- 
ed rank in the army, and prominent in the eyes of 
the public, to serve either as the instrument or 
leader of this cabal. Lee, who had high reputa- 



172 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

tion for military talent, and had contrived, by 
caustic and disparaging remarks, to cause the re- 
sources of Washington's mind to be called in 
question, might have figured in the latter capaci- 
ty. Circumstances, developed in Wilkinson's Me- 
moirs, seem to intimate that he was meditating a 
brilliant enterprise at the moment in which he was 
captured, that should have offered a marked con- 
trast to the hurried retreat of Washington across 
Jersey before the active Cornwallis. His capture 
was, however, attended with circumstances little 
creditable to him ; and his position as a native of 
Great Britain was a cause of the failure of a gen- 
eral arrangement for the exchange of prisoners. 
He therefore remained long in captivity, although 
Washington's exertions to establish a cartel were 
unceasing, and generous in the extreme, when we 
consider that the principal point of difference was 
in respect to a person whom he must have known 
for a rival. 

The fame and popularity acquired by Gates for 
the capture of Burgoyne pointed him out as a 
proper instrument in the hands of the cabal. 
Weak and vainglorious, he was unfit to perform 
the part of a leader, but was easily induced to be- 
come a tool, although his vanity was such as to 
aspire to the highest station. His first act in op- 
position to Washington was probably suggested 
by his desire to remain at the head of an impor- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 173 

tant and separate command. In this he was aid- 
ed by the anxiety that was naturally felt for the 
recovery of the posts on the Hudson, captured by 
General Clinton in his unavailing- attempt to re- 
lieve Burgoyne. For this reason Congress limit- 
ed their orders to Gates for a detachment to re- 
enforce the army of Washington to twenty-five 
hundred men, although the latter expressed his 
wish to receive seven thousand five hundred, which 
were absolutely necessary to put him in a condition 
to retake Philadelphia. 

The thanks which were justly due to Gates as 
the commander of the army by which so brilliant 
an exploit as the capture of a British general with 
his whole army, were freely voted by Congress. 
But it escaped notice, that the convention under 
which the arms of that formidable expedition were 
laid down, was far less favourable to the United 
States than might have been obtained under the 
circumstances of the case. Gates himself was so 
sensible of this, that he volunteered an apology, 
through his aid-de-camp Wilkinson, for the terms 
which he had granted. The conditions, which 
Congress afterward found it necessary to refuse to 
comply with, were voted honourable and advan- 
tageous ; and Gates, whose task had, in fact, been 
accomplished, was left in absolute control of the 
force he had commanded, under the pretence of a 
necessity to recover the posts on the Hudson, which 
P2 



174 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the enemy soon abandoned as untenable by them. 
This absolute control was vested in G ates by a res- 
olution, making it obligatory on General Washing- 
ton to consult with him as to the amount of the re- 
enforcement he was to receive ; and it was strongly 
urged that he should not be permitted to call for 
any re-enforcement without the concurrence of 
that officer. 

The opposition to General Washington in the 
army mustered also in its ranks Mifflin, who had 
succeeded Gates in the appointment of quarter- 
master-general, and a number of foreigners who 
had been disappointed in their expectations of ob- 
taining rank and influence. Among these, the most 
prominent was Conway. The wilful negligence 
or incompetency of Mifflin was productive of 
most disastrous effects ; and to one or other, or to 
both united, is to be attributed the distress of the 
army in the winter-quarters of Valley Forge. If 
wilful negligence was the cause, he appears to 
have been prompted to it, as he was certainly sup- 
ported when its effects became manifest, by a par- 
ty in Congress. It thus happened, that at the 
close of the campaign in which so great success 
had been obtained as to secure the recognition of 
the United States as a nation, and thus to give fa- 
cilities for supplies that had not before existed, 
the army was exposed to sufferings almost unex- 
ampled even in defeat. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 175 

Although the force of public opinion compelled 
Congress to accept Mifflin's resignation of his of- 
fice as quartermaster-general, yet on the very same 
day he was placed at the head of the Board of 
War. On the representation of Mifflin that the 
numbers of this board were not sufficient to give 
weight to its decisions, Gates, with another com- 
missioner, was added, and that general became its 
president. He was, however, wholly unfitted to 
carry into effect the views of the cabal, and, in a 
rash moment, gave Washington an opportunity of 
effectually counteracting their schemes. 

While Washington, at Valley Forge, was enga- 
ged in attempts to provide for his famishing and 
almost naked army, he received a letter from 
Gates marked with all the insolence of anticipa- 
ted triumph. This letter was not only offensive in 
its tone, but conveyed an indirect insinuation that 
Washington had used unfair means in obtaining 
an extract of a letter from Conway to Gates, in 
which the conduct of General Washington, and 
his talents as a commander, were severely censu- 
red. It, in addition, contained a direct express- 
ion of the belief that persons in the military fam- 
ily of General Washington had been concerned 
in the acts of which Gates complained. The per- 
sons pointed at were Colonels Troup and Hamil- 
ton. In the correspondence which ensued, the 
honour of these gentlemen was most triumphantly 



176 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

vindicated, and public opinion was once more en- 
listed on the side of Washington. The cabal, 
however, was only weakened, not destroyed. Ta- 
king advantage of the disorganization and distress 
which were the consequence of the insufficient ad- 
ministration of the department of quartermaster- 
general, the new board of war recommended to 
Congress the appointment of inspectors-general, 
with powers which were, in fact, paramount to 
those of the commander-in-chief. Rumours also 
were circulated that Washington intended to re- 
sign, and these at last reached his own ears 
through those members of the Congress who saw 
that his honour and the continuance of his services 
were indissolubly united to the cause of American 
liberty. 

The attempt to appoint inspectors-general was 
defeated by a manly and decided letter of Gener- 
al Greene to Congress, and by a strong remon- 
strance from the general and field officers of the 
army. This scheme having proved abortive, a 
committee of three members of Congress and 
three members of the board of war was appointed, 
with such powers as made them a permanent court 
of inquiry on the conduct of the commander-in- 
chief. 

The next step was to enlist Lafayette in the op- 
position, by the tender of a separate command of 
an army intended to invade Canada. This he with 



ALEXANDEK HAMILTON. 177 

great magnanimity declined, and agreed to serve 
only on the condition of his receiving orders from 
Washington, 

At this distant date, and in the absence of ex- 
act records of the votes and acts of the Continen- 
tal Congress, it is difficult to point out the mem- 
bers of that body who took an active part in the 
attempt to degrade and disgust Washington. 
Some, no doubt, were, for reasons personal or sec- 
tional, his political opponents ; others may have 
been envious of the lofty distinction he had ac- 
quired ; and others, again, from a well-grounded 
distrust, founded on a knowledge of historical 
events, were unwilling that any one man should 
attain a paramount influence by the weight of his 
character in the infant republic. They well 
knew how dazzling is military glory to the unen- 
lightened, how strong the attachment which is 
excited in the breast of a soldier towards him un- 
der w^hom he has successfully served. The ex- 
ample of Cromwell could not fail to have been 
present to their remembrance; and the strong 
similarity in the origin and course of the civil war 
of England and that of the Revolution might well 
have excited distrust of one who stood so strongly 
in the affections of his brothers in arms. Since 
that day a still more remarkable instance has oc- 
curred, of one who began life so ardent a republi- 
can that no name would suit him but that of the 



17S AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

king-quelling Brutus, and who closed his success- 
es by placing on his brow the imperial diadem, 
and allying himself to the family which proudly 
claimed to be the successors of the Caesars. To 
judge from all former examples, such views were 
well founded ; and it was not an ill-calculated 
scheme to raise up as a rival of Washington one 
who had achieved high applause as a command- 
er, and who must not have appeared to them to 
possess the high attributes of moral superiority 
which would have rendered Washington, had he 
been actuated by personal motives, trebly danger- 
ous. Even with all the admiration which we, 
with all posterity, must regard that extraordinary 
instance of self-denial and public virtue, it may 
be reckoned a most fortunate circumstance, both 
for his own fame and the happiness of his coun- 
try, that Washington was childless, and hence had 
one temptation less than Cromwell. We shall 
find that there was a time when but a single 
spark was required to set into a flame the feelings 
of an army, flushed on the one hand with the glo- 
rious termination of their labours and warlike 
toils, and goaded on the other by positive distress 
and a want of consideration for their invaluable 
services. Nay, the spark was actually applied; 
and it required all the talent and influence of 
Washington to stifle the conflagration in its birth. 
Men are so prone to deceive themselves in mat- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 179 

ters which concern their own interests, that the 
commander of the American army, had he, at the 
close of the Revolution, imited it, as might easily 
have been done, in a refusal to lay down their 
arms until their just claims had been satisfied, 
might have felt himself warranted, not merely by 
the justice of the demand itself, but by a feeling 
of regard to the honour of his country. 

The prevalence for so long a time of a party 
that would, if possible, have probably defeated all 
the beneficial results of the Revolution, by substi- 
tuting for the civic and martial virtues of Wash- 
ington a merely military chief, who, if victorious, 
would not have exercised the forbearance and 
discretion which on subsequent occasions marked 
the conduct of that great man, seems to be prin- 
cipally owing to the imperfect form of the confed- 
eration and the anomalous position of the Con- 
gress. 

Hamilton remained in the staff of the com- 
mander-in-chief until February, 1781, at which 
time a misunderstanding occurred, which made 
him feel the necessity of retiring from a station of 
which he had faithfully fulfilled the duties, al- 
though he had unwillingly assumed them. It is 
gratifying to observe, that, although Hamilton de- 
termined to retire from the family ot' Washing- 
ton, this event did not in any degree lessen the 
esteem in which they held each other. Hamilton, 



180 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY* 

indeed, probably rose in estimation, both with his 
general and the public ; the former feeling the 
want of his valuable services, and the latter see- 
ing him in such a light as proved that he was not 
merely a useful engine in the hands of a superior, 
but capable himself of acting and directing. The 
great value of his services on the staff of the com- 
mander-in-chief was well understood by the few 
who possessed the confidence of Washington ; and 
hence, when the station of adjutant-general be- 
came vacant in 1777, the nomination of Hamil- 
ton to that office was urged by Lafayette and 
Greene, who recommended him as of all other 
persons the most highly qualified. 

During the interval which elapsed between the 
retreat of the British army from Philadelphia and 
the time when Hamilton resigned his appointment 
as aid-de-camp, the military events are of less in- 
terest than in the preceding years. Many plans 
of operation were discussed and schemes formed, 
which were prevented from going into effect by 
circumstances beyond control, or by the true and 
enlightened views which were entertained, that 
the integrity of the American nation resided in its 
army, which was not, therefore, to be lightly risked 
in any enterprise which did not promise a cer- 
tainty of success. Among these projects may be 
mentioned those of attacking New-York and of 
invading Canada 3 the first by the aid of a French 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 181 

fleet, the latter by a combined army of the two 
nations. 

In the Northern states the motions of the Brit- 
ish armies had ceased after the battle of Mon- 
mouth ; content to bridle the United States by the 
possession of the important position of New-York, 
which, so long as they held the command of its 
waters, was almost impregnable, the British gener- 
als ceased from all attempts at acting with energy. 

The w^ar had, in fact, ceased to be a purely 
military question. The British government had 
ascertained that arms alone could not decide the 
contest; and the Americans had been satisfied of 
the wisdom of Washington's policy, who was 
content to keep an army in the field, and was de- 
termined not to risk it in a general action, unless 
all the probabilities of success should be with him. 
This army \vas, in fact, the essence of the national 
existence ; the occupation of the principal tow^ns 
in rotation had no effect upon the issue of the 
war ; it augmented, indeed, the general suffering, 
but tended only to induce the people to a more 
obstinate resistance. This army, however, was 
continually on the brink of ruin from the want of 
means to sustain it. Mutinies of serious character 
broke out, and the British government began to 
entertain hopes that the armed force would melt 
away, and the people become weary of a pro- 
tracted war. 

Q 



182 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Considerations on the Origin of the Revolution. — 
Effects of the earlier Measures of Passive Re- 
sistance. — Emission of Bills of Credit by Con- 
gress. — Consequence of that Measure. — Decay 
of Public Credit. — State of Financial Affairs. 
— Hamilton proposes a JYational Bank as a 
Remedy, 

The mode in which the colonies were first ex- 
cited to a passive resistance, then to the enrol- 
ment of local forces, next to the formation of an 
army under the control of the general Congress, 
and, finally, to the assumption of an independent 
position among nations, has been previously indi- 
cated. Whatever there may have been of plan 
and determination to establish a general govern- 
ment among the master spirits, and however evi- 
dent it may have been to those who possessed a 
just view of the state of things, that the sole 
choice lay between entire submission or final 
separation, the people were not prepared, at the 
time hostilities broke out, even for the discussion 
of the latter alternative. War was waged against 
the troops of the King of England by men who 
had united in petitions to his throne, and still styled 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 183 

themselves his faithful subjects. All the measures, 
therefore, necessary to maintain existence as a na- 
tion followed, and were dictated by the course of 
events, instead of preceding and controlling them. 
In the beginning of the struggle, each state raised 
its own troops, and sought the means of supporting 
and paying them. The troops were next put upon 
the continental estabhshment, and the direct pay 
and subsistence were to be furnished by Congress. 
It is no impeachment of the wisdom of that 
body that they refrained from the imposition of 
direct and heavy taxes. Even those they ven- 
tured to recommend to the State legislatures, 
which had retained the power of lev^'ing them, 
were collected with difficult}^, and imposed only 
under the pressure of the most urgent necessity. 
The country, in truth, entered upon the contest in 
a state of impoverishment. The threatening as- 
pect of the times had induced the few men of 
moneyed capital to remove their funds to foreign 
countries ; the measures of non-intercourse had put 
a stop to trade and to the circulation of money. 
The latter, however well intended as a method 
of passive resistance, was perhaps the very worst 
measure that could have been adopted in ref- 
erence to an actual war. The colonies had no 
manufactures, and practised only the rudest me- 
chanical arts. The merchants, whom the fore- 
sight for which that class of citizens are prover- 



184 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

bial, would have induced to lay in stocks, not 
only of munitions of war, but of the articles of 
prime necessity for which the colonies were then 
wholly dependant upon Europe, were either led 
by patriotic motives or coerced by law to aban- 
don their trade. The large foreign capital which 
they were in the habit of employing in their busi- 
ness was withdrawn, and their own resources di- 
minished, by their being thrown for the support of 
their families upon their stock instead of their 
annual profits. Many of the sufferings of the 
revolutionary army arose from the absolute want 
of the usual supplies of materials for clothing, 
even more than from the want of means for pay- 
ing for them. An unwise policy still farther en- 
hanced the evil, for those who traded in British 
goods were considered as traitors to the cause, 
and the invested capital of foreigners was treated 
as a fair object of confiscation. 

Congress, in the absence of other resources, had 
recourse to the emission of bills of credit. This 
was no new measure in America. All the Brit- 
ish colonies had from time to time resorted to the 
same expedient, in the efforts they made to aid the 
mother country in its numerous wars. The conse- 
quences had been everywhere the same in charac- 
ter, although different in degree ; and the Spanish 
dollar, originally worth less than 4^. 6d. ster- 
ling, had been enhanced in its measure in the lo- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 185 

cal currencies to different rates between 5^. and 

8s. These efForts, however burdensome and ob- 
noxious to those who felt little direct interest in 
their object, were far inferior to those required to 
change the condition of the states from that of 
colonies to that of an independent nation. The 
issues which were demanded were more copious, 
the depreciation which ensued more rapid and 
vastly greater. 

Had this paper money been resorted to as a 
mere temporary expedient, and had the govern- 
ment cotemporaneously undertaken the prepara- 
tion of a sound scheme of finance, the first emis- 
sions might have been redeemed, and no disastrous 
consequences need have ensued. The success of 
the measure, however, was so great at first as to 
mislead its planners. The patriotism of a large 
part of the people was such as to induce them to 
give ready currency to the new medium. We 
could cite instances where families, driven from 
their homes by the events of war, with ample 
means, spent their gold and hoarded the new 
paper. 

The disastrous campaign of 1776 broke the de- 
lusion, and, even before an issue beyond the de- 
mand for a circulating medium had taken place, 
the fall in value became alarming. The old reme- 
dy of making the money a legal tender was resort- 
ed to, and, as it has always done, increased instead 
Q2 



186 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of palliating the disease. The sanctity of con- 
tracts was invaded, the httle vested capital de- 
stroyed, by payments in the debased medium ; tax- 
es, graduated to a specie value or to successive 
stages of depreciation, were received in a still 
baser money ; while the prices of all articles nom- 
inally rose as rapidly as the paper fell in value. 
The bill for a dinner furnished some of the Brit- 
ish officers captured with Burgoyne, at Philadel- 
phia, was published by them in England, and is 
one of the most characteristic illustrations of the 
state of the times. It amounted to several thou- 
sand dollars, and was liquidated for two or three 
guineas. 

In 1779 it appeared that the emission of bills 
of credit had amounted to the vast sum of one 
hundred and sixty millions of dollars ; that the 
public debt for loans from citizens and foreigners 
had reached the sum of forty miUions. Congress, 
in order to sustain or revive a credit which ap- 
peared to be nearly extinguished, now resolved, 
and pledged itself that the whole issue of bills of 
credit should not exceed two hundred millions. 
In spite of a full exposition of the resources of the 
country, intended to show that full confidence 
might be placed in the public faith, paper money 
continued to fall in value, and in less than two 
months the additional issue of forty millions, to 
which Congress had restricted itself, was ex- 
hausted. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 187 

As a new resource, bills of exchange were 
drawn on the American envoys in Europe, and 
sold at the rate of one dollar for twenty-five dol- 
lars in paper ; and, finally, a new issue of bills of 
credit was voted, for which the faith of the indi- 
vidual states was to be pledged ; for each dollar 
of these, forty of the old emission were receivable. 
All these attempts, however, did but delay the ca- 
tastrophe, and the faith in the paper money fell to 
rise no more. 

This state of things gave birth to extravagant 
speculation. The public, having nothing where- 
with to pay for its supplies but a disgraced paper, 
was placed at the mercy of those individuals who 
had either husbanded their resources or succeeded 
in maintaining their credit. The holders of the 
paper money, forcing it into the market with a 
view of realizing any part of it, however small, 
raised the price of every necessary' of life, while 
those who possessed gold and silver coin hoard- 
ed it. 

The laws which made continental money, as the 
bills of credit were called, a legal tender, created 
a fierce war between debtor and creditor; and 
when the credit of that circulating medium had 
reached its lowest ebb, internal trade was at an 
end, from the ruinous rate of exchanges, and the 
impossibility of transmitting the precious metals 
from place to place in so disturbed a state of the 
national affairs. 



188 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Hamilton was an attentive and interested spec- 
tator of the state of things. His position in the 
staff of the commander-in-chief showed him the 
difficulties of the government in the strongest 
point of view. His intimacy with the officers of 
the French army, growing not only out of his sta- 
tion, but of the facility with which he spoke and 
wrote their language, had convinced him that it 
was possible that France might fail in her engage- 
ments ; and it was a matter of notoriety, from the 
debates of the British Parliament, that the minis- 
try now began to hope that a continuance of the 
war might cause a dismemberment of the Union, 
arising from financial distress. 

At a date as early as the winter of 1778-9, 
when the headquarters of the army were at Mor- 
ristown, Hamilton addressed an anonymous letter 
to Robert Morris on the subject of the public dis- 
tress and the means of remedying it. Morris was 
then, as for several years afterward, a delegate in 
Congress from Pennsylvania ; and, from his skill 
and success as a merchant, w^as looked up to as 
the leading member in all questions of finance. 

In this letter, after an examination of the caus- 
es of the difficulty, he proposes, as the only reme- 
dy, the obtaining of a foreign loan, but goes on to 
exhibit that this would not be effisctual unless 
properly applied. He then examines plans which 
appear to have been proposed for the employ- 
ment of such a loan, namely, that of buying up a 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 189 

part of the paper, and of importing merchandise 
on public account. Rejecting these as insufficient, 
he proposes as his plan a J\^ational Bank, to be 
founded on a foreign loan of two millions, and 
two hundred millions of paper money, to be val- 
ued at ten millions in specie. 

This, as far as we have been able to ascertain, 
is the earliest plan of a National Bank. It is not 
improbable that the advantages and facilities ob- 
tained by the governments of Europe, as well as 
by individuals engaged in commerce, from such 
institutions, had presented themselves to many re- 
flecting persons. But all existing institutions had 
arisen under circumstances widely different from 
those in which the United States were placed. 
Even the Bank of England had not been estab- 
lished for the purpose of restoring a credit already 
fallen, but to give stability to one about to be 
impaired. It was left for Hamilton to perceive 
iiow such an institution might be made the means 
of rebuilding a confidence, fallen, to all appear- 
ance, beyond the chance of repair. 

The communication of Hamilton to Morris is 
marked by sound and clear views of the condition 
of the currency, and w^as far in advance of the 
knowledge of the day. It is distinguished by the 
rejection of the whole system of temporary expe- 
dients to which the necessities of the times and 
the dread of imposing direct burdens on the peo- 
ple had given birth. The scheme, however, was 



190 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

too bold even for the eminent financier to whom 
it was addressed. Whether it had any influence 
on his mind does not appear. Certain, however, 
it is, that within fourteen months of its date Mor- 
ris submitted to Congress a plan of a bank in the 
State of Pennsylvania. He did not, however, 
venture to adopt any of the bold features of the 
scheme proposed by Hamilton, but contented 
himself with an institution founded on a moneyed 
capital alone. Even this was attended with ben- 
eficial results, but was ineffectual towards the 
great object of checking the rapid downfal of 
public credit. 

Hamilton had suggested the idea of using the 
credit of the government in mercantile adventures, 
not as a principle of steady action, but as a tem- 
porary expedient for paying the interest on the 
foreign debtj and this plan, we find, was adopted 
by Morris. * 

The project submitted by Hamilton to Robert 
Morris bears date in 1779 ; the Bank of Pennsyl- 
vania was not reported to Congress until June 
22d, 1780, nor the Bank of North America pro- 
posed until May, 1781. Gouverneur Morris, who 
has claimed the merit of planning the latter, was 
not appointed assistant to the superintendent of 
finance until July 6th, 1781. He may, however, 
have been consulted previously, but there is no 
probability that he had moved on the question as 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 191 

early as 1779. The anonymous communications 
of Hamilton were not intended to gain reputation 
for himself, but made from purely patriotic mo- 
tives; the superintendent of finance was at full 
liberty to use them as he saw fit, and precluded 
from even guessing at the author; hence, that 
the statement of Gouverneur Morris was made in 
good faith, is not rendered doubtful by the discov- 
ery of this interesting document among Hamil- 
ton's papers : it, however, destroys his right to 
the merit of priority. 

All that relates to the necessities and embar- 
rassments for which a National Bank was pro- 
posed as a remedy, must be for ever interesting. 
The question of a bank, both in its expediency 
and its constitutionality, has been one of those 
which has caused fierce debates in our legislative 
bodies, and excited the fury of party difference. 
Wise and patriotic men have espoused both sides 
of this question, and have been supported by those 
possessed equally of honest and public-spirited 
views. There can be no doubt that, when a bank 
was established in conformity with the views of 
Hamilton, it fulfilled all the purposes for which he 
intended it, and was attended with none of the 
evils which its opponents predicted. Nor does it 
appear probable that, in the low state to which 
public credit was then reduced, any other measure 
could possibly have produced similar results. In 



192 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

this case the prostration of private interests grew 
out of the failure of the pubUc to meet its engage- 
ments. 

J, So fully was the expediency of a bank demon- 
strated, that when, at the close of the war of 
1812, a similar but far less embarrassed state 
of things existed, a like remedy was adopted, 
and equally beneficial consequences followed. 
Since that period new experience has been ac- 
quired from the practice of foreign countries, and 
it does not appear to be impossible that the gov- 
ernment may itself, if in possession of good credit, 
perform its own fiscal operations, and, at the same 
time, subserve the purposes of trade. To unite 
these objects successfully will require great talent 
and honesty of purpose ; and yet there seems to 
be little probability that the purposes of the gov- 
ernment can be attained without providing for the 
wants of commerce. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 193 



CHAPTER V. 

Hamilton corresponds with Duane. — Second Let- 
ter to Morris f arid his Reply. — First proposition 

for a Convention to establish a Federative Re- 
public. — Reflections on State and Federal Sov- 
ereignty. — He edits " the Contineiitalist.^^ — Ob- 
tains the command of a Corps of Light Infan- 
try. — Serves at Yor'ktomi, and leads the Forlorn 
Hope. — Retires from active Service, and com- 
mences the study of Law. — His Marriage. — 
He is appointed by Morris receiver of Taxes 

for the State of J>^eiv-York. 

Soon after addressing the anonymous commu- 
nication to Robert Morris which has been refer- 
red to in the last chapter, Hamilton commenced a 
correspondence on the same subject with the 
Hon. James Duane, then a member of Congress 
from the State of New-York. In one of his let- 
ters written at this time, he alludes to the first 
bank established at the instance of Morris, that 
of Pennsylvania, and then proceeds to illustrate 
the advantages of a more extensive and power- 
ful fiscal agent. 

A letter to Morris, dated April 30, 1781, dis- 
cusses the question still more amply j after pro- 
R 



194 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

posing a National Bank as " a plan which will 
not only advance the interests of the traders, se- 
cure the independence of the country, and in its 
progress have the most beneficial influence upon 
its future commerce," he states that there is no 
other possible method w^hich could relieve the 
public distress, and that the longer such a project 
was delayed the more difficult it would become. 
He next cites and refutes the objections which 
have been made to banks, showing that they 
merely prove that banks, like all other good 
things, are liable to abuse; and that the same ar- 
guments -were equally apphcable to the precious 
metals themselves, or to great power, extensive 
commerce, and riches; that, in fact, they were 
directed against national prosperity itself. 

He next quotes the examples of the beneficial 
effects of national banks in the cases of Venice, 
Genoa, Hamburg, Holland, and England, all 
raised to a consequence far beyond that to Avhich 
they were entitled by their population or territorial 
resources, by the wisdom of their fiscal arrange- 
ments. The example of the last-named country 
is examined at great length, and shows that the 
United States were at the time in exactly the 
same position as England was at the end of the 
long and expensive w^ars of William III. Next 
follows a plan of a bank adapted to the condi- 
tion and circumstances of the United States. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 195 

We shall not comment upon this splendid plan, 
nor exhibit the arguments adduced to show its 
practicability, even in the forlorn state of the pub- 
lic credit of the day. It had no result, and is 
therefore only quoted to prove the sagacity of 
Hamilton. 

On the 26th of May, 1781, Morris informed 
Hamilton that he would speedily see the plan of 
a bank which had already received the sanction of 
Congress. He admits that its capital was too 
small to accomplish all the desired ends, but ex- 
presses the opinion that, beginning upon a limited 
plan, it would, if successful, command a future in- 
crease of capital. 

The votes on the question of establishing this 
bank are interesting, as exhibiting the state of 
public opinion at that time in respect to the expe- 
diency of a bank. They are still more important 
considered in relation to the question of its consti- 
tutionality, for the powers of Congress under the 
confederation had by that time been construed to 
be far less than the present government possesses 
by express grant. Upon this vote New- York and 
Delaware were not represented ; the minority was 
composed of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts; 
while Virginia, with all the other Southern states, 
voted in the affirmative. Of the individual mem- 
bers, Madison was the only one from Virginia who 
was opposed to the plan. 



196 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The inquiries of Hamilton were not confined to 
the means of reUeving a distress merely pecunia- 
ry, but were extended to the whole organization of 
the federal government. In notes appended to 
his anonymous communication to Morris, he points 
out the evils growing out of the mode in which 
the public affairs were conducted, and proposes a 
remedy. This was found, on its adoption, to be ef- 
ficient, and constitutes the very system which has 
been followed up to the present day. In the let- 
ter to Mr. Duane, the same plan is more fully de- 
veloped, and farther imperfections^ with their ap- 
propriate cures, are noted. This letter was the 
germ of the present Constitution of the United 
States, and ought to be read and studied by every 
American citizen. It will be found at full length 
in the Life of Hamilton by his son. 

In this letter he points out, as the fundamental 
defect in the existing system, a want of po-^er in 
Congress, in consequence of which its influence 
and credit with the army had been ruined, and 
the dependance of the several corps of that body 
upon separate states, rather than upon the confed- 
eration, established. He then alludes to the argu- 
ment that Congress never had any definite powers 
granted to it, and shows, in reply, that it had ex- 
ercised all the highest acts of sovereignty, and 
that these acts had been cheerfully submitted to ; 
instancing the declaration of independence, the 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 197 

declaration of war, the levying an army, creating 
a navy, appointing a dictator, emitting money, ma- 
king alliances with foreign powers, all implica- 
tions of complete sovereignty. He then states 
that undefined powers are, in fact, discretionary 
powers, limited only by the object for which they 
were given. 

In continuation, he cites a fact which he must 
have had full means of knowing, that the lines of 
the army were ready to obey their states in oppo- 
sition to Congress, and that the onty obstacle to 
this lay in the personal influence of the general. 
He then shows the wide difference between the 
situation of the United States and that of a coun- 
try simply distributed into coimties, &c. ; that, in 
the former case, the danger is, that the confederate 
government shall not have power enough to unite 
the different members together, and direct the 
common strength to the interest and happiness of 
the whole. 

In illustration of this position he quotes the ex- 
amples of the Greek republics, the Swiss can- 
tons, and the Germanic body, and shows that the 
instance of the United Provinces does not militate 
against it, in consequence of an influence exerted 
by the family of Orange almost equal to that of 
a limited monarch. 

His next argument is drawn from the experi- 
ence of the United States, which he thinks should 
R2 



198 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

be satisfactory. He shows the futiUty of the at- 
tempt to induce the separate states, by individual 
acts of legislation, to combine in equal exertions 
for the common cause ; and points out the defect 
arising from uniting the functions of a deliberative 
and executive body, a defect not remedied by the 
division of Congress into boards where responsi- 
bility did not exist. In considering the remedies, 
while he thinks that Congress might with propri- 
ety resume and exercise the discretionary powers 
originally vested in it, he proposes, as a far pref- 
erable method, the call of a convention of the 
states, vested with full authority to conclude final- 
ly on a general confederation ; and this is the very 
earliest proposal of this mode of putting an end 
to the existing evils. 

The powers which should be given to Congress 
under a new confederation are then enumerated, 
and are, with few exceptions, such as are given to 
the federal government by the existing Constitution. 

It is here to be remarked, that the particular 
power of establishing banks, and evidently intend- 
ed to be exclusive of any such power in the indi- 
vidual states, is enumerated, instead of the gener- 
al povv^er of regulating the currency which is con- 
tained in the federal Constitution ; thus leaving no 
doubt of the intention of the mind which conceiv- 
ed the federal Constitution as to the meaning of 
that clause of our national charter. The power of 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 199 

the purse is, however, guarded more strictly than in 
the finished instrument ; certain sources of revenue 
are enumerated as proper to be granted to the con- 
federation, while for any farther supplies he pro- 
poses that the assent of the state legislatures should 
be necessary. 

As a partial measure, to fill the interval required 
for the call and the action of the convention, he 
finally proposes the formation of an executive 
body, composed of five heads of departments, to 
be nominated by the existing Congress. 

It is hardly possible at the present day to ap- 
preciate the entire merit of the plans of Hamilton. 
His views are to many so familiar, and his posi- 
tions so completely established in all their points, 
as to assume an air almost commonplace. But we 
have to recollect that these letters preceded the 
close of the revolutionary war, and were, in con- 
sequence, years in advance of the opinions even 
of the most enlightened statesmen. 

The beautiful course of inductive reasoning, from 
the misfortunes and experience of other nations, 
by which he attained his results, cannot fail to 
strike all who read it. It is now the fashion to 
neglect the lessons of experience, and despise 
the examples, whether of encouragement or of 
warning, which the fate and destinies of other 
governments afford. We reason in respect to gov- 
ernment, national economy, and pohtical actions 



200 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

upon abstract principles, such as have never been 
found sure guides to point out in advance the re- 
sults of contemplated measures, however well they 
may seem to explain a course of events that has 
already occurred. After all, the passions, the 
fears, and the prejudices of mankind are far more 
important elements in national prosperity than is 
admitted by the school of Adam Smith. It is not 
merely necessary that a nation should have ampl 
resources in order to enjoy good credit; it mus . 
besides, possess an unblemished reputation for faith ; 
and such reputation is even more delicate than 
that of the merchant ; for, if his resources be suf- 
ficient, the law is generally adequate to make him 
fulfil his engagements. But nations lie beyond 
the reach of civil process ; and a rash act, or even 
an ill-considered phrase on the part of an admin- 
istration, may impair the best-founded fabric of 
credit. This will not affect its government mere- 
ly, but will be felt in the foreign traffic of its in- 
dividual citizens. 

If the greatest caution be necessary to retain 
unimpeached the credit of European nations, it is 
even more essential in our own. Many of them 
are in possession of capital exceeding in amount 
all the means of profitable investment. Thus, 
even when their governments are loaded with 
debt, they rarely find it difficult to obtain new 
loans ; and all private enterprises which promise 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 201 

safet}^ in the investment and reasonable profits, 
find a sure supply of funds. 

With us the case is widely different. Our com- 
mercial capital is far beneath the amount which is 
needed even in our domestic trade. Our merchants 
anticipate the proceeds of their shipments to Eu- 
rope by bills upon the consignees ; our importers 
buy in foreign countries upon a long credit ; and 
thus, in fact, the whole of our foreign trade may 
be said to be conducted by the funds of other 
countries. So also is a great part of our inland 
trade. The length of the foreign credit enables 
the importers to trust their customers; and it is 
only in the intervals which elapse between the re- 
ceipt and the sale of goods that American capital 
becomes necessary. We know, indeed, that a 
gradual increase of wealth is rendering this sys- 
tem less common. Purchases are occasionally 
made with cash in Europe, and a profit is thus 
realized, not only in interest, but in the large al- 
lowance the manufacturers can afford to make as 
an equivalent for the risk of bad debts ; but that 
our trade is chiefly built upon foreign capital is 
still true in the main. 

Not only is our mercantile capital insufficient for 
our trade, but the vested capital of the nation is 
comparatively small, and every addition from an 
extrinsic source, if judiciously applied, is attended 
with an increase in the value of property wholly 



202 AMERICAN BIOGKAPHY. 

unexampled. If the products of our own labour 
suffice to form the thousands of miles of new 
roads which the continual extension of our inhab- 
ited country annually demands ; to clear and en- 
close our new fields ; to erect our farm-buildings, 
and furnish the few and simple implements our 
agriculturists have yet learned to employ, the same 
is not the case with our great public works. The 
canals of New- York and Ohio, the great combi- 
ned system of public improvements in Pennsylva- 
nia, have all been effected by foreign capital, and 
have added so much to the wealth of their neigh- 
bourhoods, that, were the works themselves mere- 
ly to pay the cost of their own repairs, taxes 
competent to the payment of interest and the re- 
demption of the loans might be imposed without 
injustice, and paid without hardship. 

To return to our more immediate subject: Ham- 
ilton, not content with urging his views upon the 
consideration of members of Congress, undertook, 
in 1781, to draw the pubUc attention towards them. 
For this purpose he published a series of papers, un- 
der the title of the Continentalist. Some of these 
have been lost; those which are still to be procured 
place the principles he had before urged upon Du- 
ane and Morris in a more familiar and popular light. 
They had, doubtless, no unimportant influence upon 
the public mind, and served to prepare the way 
for the deliberations of that illustrious assembly 



A T- E X A N D E R HAMILTON. 203 

which formed our present Constitution. From one 
of these papers we cannot avoid making an ex- 
tract. " There is something noble and magnifi- 
cent in the perspective of a great federative re- 
pubUc, closely linked in the pursuit of a common 
interest, tranquil and prosperous at home, respect- 
able abroad ; there is something proportionably 
diminutive and contemptible in the prospect of a 
number of petty states, with the appearance only 
of union — -jarring, jealous, and perverse — without 
any determinate direction ; fluctuating and unhap- 
py at home, weak and insignificant by their dis- 
sensions in the eye of other nations." 

On leaving the staff of Washington, Hamilton 
sought to be reinstated in the line of the army. 
To this there were many obstacles. The jealousy 
always entertained by officers of the line in rela- 
tion to those who obtain their rank in staff em- 
ployments, is proverbial, and Hamilton found it 
existing in his case. No objection seems to have 
been made to his return to the corps of artillery 
with a rank equal to that he held as aid-de-camp 
to the commander-in-chief But in this event he 
would have been the youngest lieutenant-colonel, 
while, had he retained his active command, he 
must by that time have been the oldest. He 
finally succeeded, after much negotiation, in ob- 
taining the command of a battalion of hght-infan- 
try. At the head of this he made the campaign 



204 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of 1787, and led the forlorn hope at the storm of 
the redoubts of Yorktown. 

On this occasion, the light-infantry of the Amer- 
ican army and the grenadiers of the French, in 
noble emulation, undertook the attack of strong 
and still uninjured field-works, and both succeed- 
ed, in spite of the gallant and determined resist- 
ance of veterans, who, in all the chances of war, 
had never before sustained absolute defeat. Yet 
in the success there was a diversity; the redoubt 
attacked by Hamilton was first carried, and with 
least loss ; while his troops, in the flush of victory 
over a determined opposition, exhibited, perhaps, 
the only instance on record of a non-compliance 
with the stern laws of war, which refuse quarter 
to a foe who has withstood an assault, and from 
whose other forces resistance or relief is still to be 
apprehended. 

After the capture of Cornwallis, the troops com- 
manded by Hamilton returned to the regiments 
whence they had been detached, and his military 
occupations ceased. Unwilling to lose the oppor- 
tunity of being useful, he retained his commission; 
but, with praiseworthy independence, he refused 
to receive the emoluments to which it entitled 
him. 

This act of disinterestedness is the more to be 
admired, inasmuch as he had exhausted the small 
remnant of his maternal estate in the equipment of 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 205 

his company at the commencement of the war, 
and might in equity have looked to be repaid his 
advances. He had also entered into new ties, 
and had claims upon him that would, in most 
minds, have justified him in taking advantage of 
the emoluments which his long services had earn- 
ed. 

Shortly after his leaving the staff of Washing- 
ton, and before the expedition against Cornwallis, 
he had been united in marriage to a daughter of 
General Schuyler; and the act of declining to re- 
ceive his pay was about contemporaneous with 
the birth of his first child. 

In order to provide for the support of his fami- 
ly, he determined to prepare himself for the pro- 
fession of the law. In this study he made such 
proficiency, that he was enabled, in the course of 
a few months, to present himself for examination, 
and obtained a license to practise. While occu- 
pied in his legal studies, he received an offer from 
Robert Morris of the situation of receiver of taxes 
for the State of New-York. This he at first de- 
clined, from the fear of its interfering with his 
professional pursuits. Morris was, however, too 
sensible of the value which his services would 
be to the country to permit him to refuse, and, at 
his strong instance, he undertook the duties. The 
time is long past when the history of the financial 
transactions of the confederation with the separate 
S 



206 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

states can possess any interest to the reader; it is 
only necessary to remark, that the exertions of 
Hamilton to produce a harmonious co-operation 
between the general and state government were 
unwearied, and entitled him to the gratitude and 
confidence of both parties. To Hamilton this 
appointment was of no little importance, for it 
gave him an opportunity of establishing his repu- 
tation for business talent and political ability in 
the eye of the Legislature of that state which he 
had chosen for his future residence. The nation, 
too, was the gainer, for Hamilton was thus intro- 
duced into public life many years before he would 
have reached notoriety as a statesman through the 
slow course of forensic occupations. 



m 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 207 



CHAPTER VI. 

Hamilton takes his Seat in Congress — Question 
in relation to Vermont. — Plan for a uniform 
System of Duties on Imports. — Opposition of 
Rhode Island. — Anonymous Letter published in 
that State. — Proceedings of Congress in relation 
thereto. — Virginia withdraws its Assent. — Re- 
port of the Committee of Finance. — Hamilton 
proposes a Substitute, which is rejected. — Report 
of the Committee of Finance, and Documents 
appejided. — The JYewburgh Letters. 

Hamilton took his seat in the Congress of the 
United States, as a delegate from the State of 
New-York, in 1782. The pressure of the war 
was over ; for the capture of Cornwalhs and his 
army had proved to the British government that 
nothing more was to be expected from attempts to 
occupy or even overrun the country. It had been 
found, that while their generals, at the head of 
well-equipped and admirably-disciplined forces, 
could at the first onset prevail in their incursions, 
they, at best, had never been able to occupy more 
ground than the mere position of their camps; 
and, however successful at first, had been invaria- 
blv worsted in the end. The advance of Bur- 



208 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

goyne into the State of New-York had terminated 
in his laying down his arms ; the capture of Phil- 
adelphia had been followed by a disgraceful re- 
treat through New-Jersey ; and the march of 
Cornwallis through the Carolinas into Virginia 
had resulted in the surrender of his army. Still, 
the hope of gaining by weariness and suiTering 
what could not be accomplished by arms was not 
wholly abandoned. The strong and advanta- 
geous position of New-York w^as occupied by a 
large army, and made impregnable to any force 
which could be brought against it, even by the 
union of the French and American armies. In ad- 
dition, the navy of England had regained its su- 
premacy at sea, and the side on which New-York 
is most vulnerable was thus covered from attack. 
All parties, however, were wearied with the war, 
and negotiations for a general peace were speedi- 
ly opened in Paris. 

Congress had now many important duties to 
perform, under circumstances of considerable dif- 
ficulty. An army was to be kept up after the ex- 
citement of actual danger had passed away, and 
when the resources of the country had been much 
impaired by a long continuation of hostilities ; the 
negotiations for a peace were to be directed, and, 
as it soon appeared, under circumstances very un- 
favourable to the maintenance of the power or 
even of the security of the United States ; terri- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 209 

torial disputes had proceeded to a great extent 
among the members of the confederacy, and, in 
particular, a district inhabited by a hardy pop- 
ulation was in a position "which rendered it prob- 
able that arms must be resorted to to settle the 
matter in litigation. The present State of Ver- 
mont had been principally settled from the other 
colonies of New-England. The State of New- 
Hampshire had assumed the right of making 
grants within that region, under which possession 
had been taken. The colonial government of 
New- York had also issued land-titles, and some of 
the citizens of the state had attempted to occupy 
the property so granted. To this attempt resist- 
ance amounting to force had been opposed, so that 
the civil officers of New-York had been prevented 
from executing their offices. Congress had been 
appealed to by both parties ; and while the jus- 
tice of the question was beyond doubt on the side 
of New-York, considerations of expediency pre- 
vented any attempt to enforce the claim, for fear 
of driving the whole of the frontier State of Ver- 
mont to a reconcihation with the mother country. 

Of this question Hamilton took an impartial 
view ; and while he united with his colleagues in 
the support of the claim of the state he represent- 
ed, he doubted the propriety of attempting to en- 
force it by arms. 

The acts of the people of Vermont had, how- 
S2 



210 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ever, passed the limit of discretion, and, in defi- 
ance of resolutions of Congress, they bad proceed- 
ed to exercise jurisdiction over persons professing 
to be subjects of the State of New-York, even 
beyond the line of the disputed territory. Some 
of these were condemned to banishment, under 
penalty of death and confiscation in case they 
should return ; while others were fined in large 
sums, and otherwise injured in their property. 

In order to appease these dissensions for the 
time being, resolutions were introduced by Mr. 
M'Kean of Delaware, which were seconded by 
Hamilton, requiring, on the one hand, that the 
banished persons should be permitted to return, 
and full and ample restitution be made to them ; 
and, on the other, that no person holding commis- 
sions under the State of New-York should exer- 
cise authority over the persons and properties of 
the inhabitants of Vermont. The resolutions also 
declared that the United States would take meas- 
ures to enforce them. An unsuccessful attempt 
was made to strike out this clause, without which 
the whole would have been nugatory ; and the 
resolutions, with a slight amendment, passed. 

Hamilton, although one of the youngest mem- 
bers, immediately took a high stand in the debates 
and business of Congress, serving, frequently as 
chairman, on important committees, and moving 
many valuable resolutions. Before he took his 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 211 

seat, the attention of Congress had been directed 
to the condition of the finances, which, although 
somewhat improved under the administration of 
Robert Morris, were still in a state of great confu- 
sion. On the 3d of February, 1781, a resolution 
had passed, recommending to the states the impo- 
sition of duties on the imports of merchandise and 
on the sale of prizes. This, w^hich, in order to be 
successful, must have been general, had been de- 
feated by the opposition of Rhode Island, which had 
refused to come into the measure. It was, how- 
ever, evident that, without some such provision, 
the credit of the country could not be sustained. 
Hamilton therefore, within a few days after taking 
his seat, moved that the superintendent of finance 
be directed to represent to the several states the 
necessity of their complying w^ith the requisitions 
of Congress for raising $ 1,200,000 to pay the in- 
terest on the debt, and $2,000,000 to defray the 
current expenses of the year ; the resolution went 
on to declare that Congress was determined to 
make the fullest justice to the public creditors an 
invariable object of their counsels and exertions. 
Thus far, on a division of the question, the resolu- 
tion was passed by a unanimous vote. The last 
part of it provided that a deputation should be 
sent to Rhode Island, for the purpose of making a 
representation of the state of pubhc affairs, and of 
urging the necessity of a compHance with the res- 



212 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

olution in relation to duties and prizes. This part 
was also carried, the State of Rhode Island alone 
voting in the negative. A draught of a letter 
was in consequence reported by Hamilton to be 
sent with the deputation, and was adopted. 

An attempt was now made by the delegation 
from Rhode Island to rescind that part of the reso- 
lution providing for sending a deputation; but this 
attempt was defeated. The next step was a re- 
port from Hamilton as chairman of a committee, 
that the deputation ought to proceed to Rhode 
Island as soon as possible. Of the acts of this 
deputation no notice appears on the journals of 
Congress. The great measure of a general and 
uniform system of duties, the proceeds of which 
should go into the public treasury, was delayed, to 
the d.etrira.ent of national credit and the breach of 
the public faith. In order to furnish an excuse 
for the refusal of Rhode Island to comply with 
the requisitions of Congress, an anonymous letter 
was published in that state, purporting to be from 
a gentleman in Philadelphia. This letter stated 
that the finances were prosperous, and that the 
credit of the country stood so high abroad that 
the only danger was that of contracting too great 
a debt. The appearance of this letter caused a 
feeling of indignation in Congress, and it was re- 
solved, in conformity with the report of a com- 
mittee, that the secretary of foreign affairs should 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 213 

write to the executive of Rhode Island to inquire 
through what channel the communication had 
been made. No sooner had the resolution passed 
than one of the delegates from Rhode Island re- 
quested leave of absence. A few days afterward 
the same delegate, having returned, avowed him- 
self the author of the letter, and introduced a mo- 
tion prefaced by a long defensive preamble. A 
resolution was then moved by Hamilton, that a 
committee be appointed to report such measures 
as it would be proper for Congress to take in re- 
spect to the motion which, in compliance with the 
articles of confederation, had been entered on the 
minutes, but which was " derogatory to the hon- 
our and dignity of the United States in Congress 
assembled." The committee, of which Hamilton 
was one, reported a resolution, that the several 
motions, with an account of the state of the foreign 
loans, should be communicated to the executive 
authority of the State of Rhode Island. The pas- 
sage of this resolution was a virtual expulsion of 
the offending delegate, whose name speedily ceas- 
es to appear on the minutes of Congress, where he 
did not show himself for several months. 

The opposition of Rhode Island, however, lost 
its importance ; for the measure of duties on im- 
ports was rendered impracticable by the with- 
drawal of the powerful State of Virginia, then by 



214 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

far the first in the confederation, of the assent 
which she had before given. 

Of this question of securing to the government 
of the confederation the proceeds of general and 
equal duties on imports for a term of years, Ham- 
ilton was, as we have seen, a constant and uni- 
form supporter. Had it prevailed, much of the 
distress which followed might have been prevent- 
ed j but the delay of Rhode Island, and the subse- 
quent change in the decision of Virginia, prevent- 
ed this all-important measure from being adopted. 

The State of New-York, which was the seat 
of war almost from its commencement, and had 
been, with but small exceptions, overrun by the 
enemy, was unable to pay its contingent of the 
public burdens. Morris, the financier, knew its 
impoverished and suffering state, and never in- 
cluded its quota among his estimates of ways and 
means. On the other hand, it had, in the subsist- 
ence of the army, often destitute of all means 
of payment ; in the personal services of its citi- 
zens, all of whom had at one time or other been 
under arms ; and in the injuries it had sustained 
from both belligerents, borne more than its full 
share of the public burdens. These were paid, 
f]om states more fortunately situated, in money, 
in New-York by personal suffering. Of this lat- 
ter, however, no estimate could be made, and 
New-York appeared in the light of a debtor 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 215 

state. Hamilton, in order to free it from this 
painful position, moved that, in the final adjust- 
ment of accounts, equitable allowances should be 
made in favour of the states which had been at 
different periods in possession of the enemy ; but 
the motion was lost, in spite of its obvious justice 
and expediency. 

The most important committee of Congress on 
which Hamilton served was that of finance. We 
have already seen the difficulty which had been 
interposed in the way of duties on importations 
by the State of Rhode Island. Still, the hope of 
obtaining what were styled " substantial funds" 
from the states, in this and other forms, was not 
abandoned. The committee therefore reported 
resolutions, in which the duty on imports was 
again recommended to the states, for the sole pur- 
pose of the discharge of the principal and interest 
on the debt contracted during the war, and for a 
term not longer than twenty-five years. These 
duties on enumerated articles were very low, and 
on articles not enumerated only 5 per cent, ad 
valorem. The report also recommended that sub- 
stantial revenues be provided by the states in pro- 
portions to be adjusted ; and that the states which 
had not completed territorial sessions should make 
them. The report further proposed an alteration 
in the articles of confederation, by which the ratio 
of contribution should be thenceforth founded on 



216 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the number of inhabitants. Hamilton, from the 
minority of the said committee, presented a substi- 
tute for these resohitions. The duties on imports 
being assessed at the same rate as before, arms, 
ammunition, wool and cotton cards, and wire for 
making them, were excepted, thus exhibiting the 
first feature of the policy to which he so long ad- 
hered, of encouraging domestic industry. In 
place of the contribution from the states, to be 
raised in such manner as they should think prop- 
er, he proposed a tax on all located and surveyed 
land, and a house tax, at the rate of half a dollar 
on each dwelling, in addition to 2^ per cent, on 
the rental. 

Of these he proposed that the duties should ac- 
crue to the general benefit of the United States, 
but that the proceeds of the land and house tax 
should be credited to the states respectively in 
which they should be collected. 

This plan of Hamilton's, although it cannot but 
be considered as more equitable than the other, was 
not admitted as a substitute. He did not on this 
account withdraw his support and attention from 
the main object of the resolutions. The proposed 
change in the articles of confederation, as to the 
mode of apportioning the contribution of the sev- 
eral states according to the number of free inhab- 
itants, had been coldly listened to. Room had 
indeed been left for a reduction of the assessment, 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 12 17 

by counting only such persons held to servitude as 
were between ages left blank in the report. An 
amendment had then been introduced, directing 
that three fifths of the slaves should be counted; 
but even with this amendment the whole proposed 
change of the articles of confederation was strick* 
en out of the report by the united vote of the 
Southern and Eastern states. That both should 
have been dissatisfied by it seemed the strongest 
proof of its equity. Hamilton therefore, three 
days afterward, moved a reconsideration of the ar- 
ticle, and proposed a slight amendment. The re- 
consideration was admitted, and the amended ar- 
ticle passed, Rhode Island alone voting in the 
negative, the vote of Massachusetts being lost by 
a division of its delegates ; while from New- 
Hampshire and Delaware no more than a single 
delegate of each was present, and their votes, 
which were in the affirmative, were lost. Hamil- 
ton therefore appears to have been the prominent 
instrument in that compromise between the slave- 
holding and other states which was subsequently 
adopted in the federal constitution. 

On the 18th of March, 1783, the resolutions 
were finally adopted ; and the sum to be raised by 
the direct contributions of the several states was 
fixed at a milhon and a half of dollars. This was 
apportioned among them in a manner which it 
may be interesting now to peruse, from the con- 
T 



218 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



trast which the relative wealth of the several 
states bears to that which they now possess. 
We therefore insert this apportionment : 

New-Hampshire 
Massachusetts 
Rhode Island 



Connecticut 
New-York 
New- Jersey 



$52,708 
224,427 

32,318 
132,091 
128,243 

83,358 



Pennsylvania . . . $205,189 

Delaware 22,433 

Maryland 141,517 

Virginia 256,487 

North Carolina . . . 109,006 

South Carolina . . . 96,183 

Georgia $16,050. 

A committee was then appointed, composed of 
Madison, Hamilton, and Ellsworth, to prepare an 
address to the states, which was brought in by 
them and agreed to. 

This paper is one of great ability, and is accom- 
panied by a number of interesting documents. 
The first is an exhibit of the debt, amounting to 
forty-two millions of dollars, and requiring a pro- 
vision of $2,400,000 to meet the interest upon it ; 
the third is an estimate of the product of the pro- 
posed duties on imports, amoimting to little more 
than $900,000; the fourth is an extract of let- 
ters from Franklin, then ambassador in France, in 
which, among other things, it is stated that, with- 
out a speedy establishment of solid general rev- 
enue, and an exact performance of the engage- 
ments which Congress had made, the United States 
must renounce the expectation of loans in Europe ; 
the seventh is a petition from the officers, exhib- 
iting the distress of the army ; and the last is the 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 219 

official history of the celebrated proceedings at 
Newburgh, which threatened to have altered the 
whole character of the Revolution, and to have 
substituted a military government for one of laws 
and constitutions. These proceedings are w^orthy 
of being here noticed. On the 10th of March, 
1782, two anonymous papers were circulated in 
the army quartered in the neighbourhood of New- 
burgh. The first was a call of a meeting of gen- 
eral and field officers, with a commissioned officer 
from each company. The second was a most able 
and powerful appeal to the officers of the army, 
exhibiting the wrongs and sufferings they had sus- 
tained, and the neglect with which their petitions 
for redress had been treated. It also urged the 
army, in case of peace, not to lay down its arms 
until it had obtained redress; or, should the war 
continue, to retire to some unsettled country, and 
leave their ungrateful country to its fate. 

The manner in which this threatening move- 
ment was quieted by the address of the command- 
er-in-chief is a part of the history of the United 
States ; it is, however, claimed for Hamilton that 
he was consulted by Washington on the occasion, 
and aided in producing that decisive action by 
which the danger was removed. In support of 
this claim we have not only the belief of the im- 
mediate friends of Hamilton, but the testimony, in 
tliis case unquestionable, of Madison, who, in a 



Q2Q AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

letter written just before the transaction, speaks of 
the apprehensions entertained of the discontents in 
the army, and states that Hamilton had written to 
Washington to advise the proper course for him to 
take. This course is exactly that which was fol- 
lowed by him. Instead of attempting forcibly to 
suppress the indignant feeling of the army, he, in 
his first general order, merely comments on the 
breach of discipline committed by the call of the 
meeting, and makes no remark on the proposals 
contained in the letter. In the place of the meet- 
ing called in the obnoxious manner, one is direct- 
ed to assemble at a subsequent period. This ap- 
parent want of decision was seized by the author 
of the letter, who, in a second address to the army, 
assumes that Washington has manifested a con- 
currence in his views. By this prudent and cau- 
tious method Washington placed himself in the 
position of the director of the movement of the 
array, and was enabled to lead the sentiments of 
the meeting to a just and patriotic action -, while, 
had he attempted to check its course by the exer- 
cise of authority, the event which he dreaded must 
have occurred, and himself have been the first vic- 
tim of the lawless action. 

It was indeed a fearful moment. Of all parties, 
Washington himself had the most reason to be 
dissatisfied ; for his recommendations and earnest 
instances on behalf of the army and its officers 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 221 

had been neglected, and he had every plausible 
excuse for placing himself at the head of an at- 
tempt to obtain redress. He is, in fact, the first 
and only instance of a successful general who has 
resisted so tempting an opportunity to aggrandize 
himself It is in this very juncture that he es- 
tablished that lofty character which places him 
above all mortal men, and separates him from the 
vulgar herd of military chiefs. He might have 
been the Cromwell or Napoleon of the Revolu- 
tion ; he preferred a course for which histor}" gave 
no example, and for which neither former ages, 
nor the period so fruitful in revolutions which has 
followed, can afford a parallel. 

The news of the signature of the preliminaries 
of peace followed soon after the adoption of the 
resolutions and address to the states of which we 
have spoken. The army was forthwith separated 
into detachments, which were directed to be re^ 
moved into the states where they had been raised, 
and liberal indulgences of furlough were granted. 

An event now occurred which showed how 
great had been the danger to the freedom of the 
country from the Newburgh letters. A party of 
soldiers on furlough, belonging to the Pennsylva- 
nia line, committed a gross insult upon Congress 
by assembling in arms in a menacing manner 
around their place of meeting; and it appeared 
that a party of eighty more were on their march 
T2 



222 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

from the barracks at Lancaster to join the muti- 
neers. Congress, in consequence, applied by a 
committee, of which Hamilton was chairman, to 
the executive council of Pennsylvania for protec- 
tion by a detachment of militia. This council, 
with professions of zeal and good-will, declared 
that the request could not be complied with, part- 
ly in consequence of the disorganized state of the 
aiilitia, but more particularly because the citizens 
were rather inclined to take part with than to op- 
pose the soldiery. Congress, thus left without 
protection, saw no step for maintaining its digni- 
ty, or even the personal safety of its members, 
and adjourned to meet at Princeton, N. J., thus 
leaving Philadelphia with as much precipitation 
as it had done when the British army under Howe 
had approached that city. 

With his service on the above-mentioned com- 
mittee Hamilton's duties in Congress terminated. 

The result of this insult upon Congress, and its 
finding that it could not be protected by the ex- 
ecutive of the state in which it sat, was the resolu- 
tion to obtain the cession of a district in which its 
subsequent meetings should be held, and in which 
the militia should be under its own immediate or- 
ders. This plan was adopted in the Constitution 
of the United States, and the present District of 
Columbia was formed in consequence, on land, ju- 
risdiction over which was ceded by the States of 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 223 

Virginia and Maryland, and in which the City of 
Washington was laid out. 

The danger to which Congress w^as exposed 
from so small a band of mutineers, and the utter 
inefficiency for their protection of a state so pow- 
erful as Pennsylvania, shows how completely the 
country was at the mercy of the army, which, in 
the hands of one who sought his own aggrandize- 
ment, might have possessed itself of the persons 
of the delegates to Congress, and overawed the 
legislatures of the states. 



224 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Hamilton takes up his Residence in the City of 
JVew-York. — His Rivals and Associates at the 
Bar. — Popular Violence directed against the 
Tories. — Hamilton's publication on this Occa- 
sicm. — He is chosen a Member of Assembly. — 
His Agency in the Pacification of Vermont. — 
Causes which led to the call of a Convention 
ffor amending the Confederacy. — Previous Con- 
vention at Annapolis. — Hamilton draws the Re- 
port of that Convention. 

Hamilton, in attending his duties as a delegate 
in Congress, made no little sacrifice. His intended 
profession, in order to be profitable, demanded a 
fixed residence and undivided attention ; the wants 
of a growing family required that he should derive 
emolument from practice at the bar. In order to 
serve his country, he gave up the first, and devo- 
ted the whole of his time to the sessions of Con- 
gress. It had become very difficult to obtain 
proper persons to serve in Congress, now that the 
pressure of danger was over. No state appears 
to have been represented during 1782 by more 
than two delegates, and in 1783 the absences be- 
came so numerous that it was often impossible to 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 225 

form a house for the despatch of business, for the 
want of the representation of a quorum of the 
states. In fact, the state legislatures, organized in 
such manner as to express the immediate senti- 
ment of the people, had obtained a moral influ- 
ence far beyond that exerted by the general Con- 
gress, and the aspirants for popular favour sought 
it through the former rather than the latter chan- 
nel. 

The evacuation of New-York took place in No- 
vember, 1783. Hamilton immediately removed 
with his family to that city, and, resigning all oth- 
er offices, applied himself to the practice of the 
law. The bar of New-York was at that time 
feeble in numbers, but powerful in talent. Of 
those who resumed their labours, now that the 
war which had interrupted them was over, were 
Samuel Jones and Richard Harrison, names of no 
ordinary distinction for learning and eloquence; 
while among the contemporaries of Hamilton were 
Brockholst Livingston and Aaron Burr. The 
latter and Hamilton speedily became rivals, and 
were not only opposed to each other as counsel, 
but in the more lasting contests of party. 

An opportunity now presented itself for Ham- 
ilton to reassert the reputation of a powerful and 
conclusive writer, which he had attained before 
hostilities broke out. The articles of peace being 
signed, not only did those who had been so long 



226 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

exiled return, but many of those who had contin- 
ued to reside in the city were anxious to remain 
within its walls. The latter were very obnoxious 
to many of the former. They had in some in- 
stances borne arms, but had in all exhibited the 
outward marks of loyalty to the royal authority. 
Some also, who felt themselves insecure at first, 
and had retired with the British army to Halifax, 
began to show themselves in the land of their 
birth. The State of New-York had manifested a 
vindictive spirit against the Tories, and had ful- 
minated confiscations and attainders against them. 
When possession of the city and neighbouring 
country was regained by the evacuation, these 
penalties were re-enforced on their estates, and 
their persons were also threatened with violence 
by the people. 

There were many of those who had been active 
in the Revolution who did not realize the change 
from hostilities and the struggles of a civil war to 
a state of peace and settled government. These 
were inclined to exercise tyranny over suspected 
Tories, and inflict punishment upon their persons 
without the sanction of the law. Tmnults arose, 
in which the lives of the latter were endangered. 
George Clinton, who then held the office of gov- 
ernor of the state, exerted himself most efficiently 
to repress the outbreaks of popular zeal. He in- 
terfered in person to disperse tumultuous assem- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 227 

blies, and in more than one instance protected the 
real or suspected Tories from violence. It was 
necessary, however, that a new impulse should be 
given to the popular feeling, and that the reason 
of the people should be convinced of the impro- 
priety of the outrages. This office w^as underta- 
ken by Hamilton, who published in the New- 
York Gazette a series of papers under the signa- 
ture of Phocion. These had the desired effect ; 
and the great body of the populace, partly deter- 
red by the determined energy of Clinton, and 
partly satisfied by the sound arguments of Hamil- 
ton, abstained from farther outrage. 

In 1786 Hamilton was elected a member of 
Assembly from the City of New-York. This ses- 
sion was marked by two important measures. 
The Vermont question was discussed at length, 
and resolutions taken which put a resort to arms 
beyond all reach of probability. In the settle- 
ment of this important subject Hamilton bore a 
distinguished part, and introduced broad views of 
policy to which the discussion had hitherto been 
a stranger. It had been debated on the ground 
of strict legal rights ; Hamilton brought consider- 
ations of national policy to bear upon it. 

The happy result of the Vermont question has 
been universally and justly ascribed to the exer- 
tions of Hamilton. Nothing could exceed the 
wisdom of the measures he proposed j and these 



228 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

were rendered victorious in the Legislature by the 
influence of his character and the power of his el- 
oquence. 

During the session of 1786, the State of New- 
York took the earliest step towards an amendment 
of the articles of confederation, and thus led the 
way in the proceedings which terminated in the 
adoption of the federal Constitution. 

These articles, which had been formed in haste 
and on the spur of the occasion, had produced a 
certain degree of good ; but this is rather to be 
attributed to the pressure of a common danger, 
which gave to the proceedings of Congress an 
authority which was not granted in terms. The 
Congress, which, as has been seen, had at first ex- 
erted powers of unrestrained sovereignty, grad- 
ually fell to the level of a mere council of inde- 
pendent states, whose decisions had none of the 
authority of law, and whose recommendations 
were disregarded as soon as the necessity of com- 
bating a common enemy had ceased. In spite of 
the urgent instances Of Congress upon the states 
to provide a permanent revenue, and to create a 
uniform rate of duties upon imports, to be pledged 
for the payment of the principal and interest of 
the debt, the resistance of the petty government 
of Rhode Island had defeated the measure, and 
the more powerful states withdrew the assent they 
had at first granted. The individual states, so far 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 229 

from applying the means in their possession, and 
which they refused to the general use, in provi- 
ding for their own debts, continued the ruinous is- 
sue of paper money, which rapidly depreciated, 
until in some instances it ceased to have even a 
nominal value. The exchanges were so deranged 
that the remittance of money from one part of the 
country to another became almost impracticable, 
and commercial jealousies began to spring up, 
which led to countervailing measures calculated 
to place the members of the confederation in the 
attitude of foreigners and rivals to each other. 

The coimtry, on the return of peace, had anti- 
cipated a renewal of the traffic it had formerly 
carried on, with the addition of a trade with coun- 
tries, to which, by the British navigation acts, its 
ships and commodities had been denied access. 
This hope was completely disappointed. The 
supply of the West India possessions of Great 
Britain with lumber, provisions, and live-stock had 
formerly been a trade of much importance j but, 
although these islands had suffered in as great a 
degree from the suspension of intercourse as the 
colonies which had become independent, they were 
not allowed to repair their losses by a resort to 
the productions of the United States. For a time, 
indeed, their necessities were so great that the civ- 
il authorities were compelled to wink at an illicit 
trade. The officers of the British navy, however, 
U 



230 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

were deterred by no such considerations, and saw 
in the growing trade a prospect of prize-money 
from seizures more alluring than captures in ac- 
tual war. By a single operation, planned by Nel- 
son, all the vessels trading with the British colo- 
nies in the West Indies from the United States 
were seized. 

The fisheries might still have flourished, but the 
original markets had been closed against them, 
and new ones had not yet been opened. The 
whale fishery had been sustained by a bounty from 
the British government, the loss of which was 
sensibly felt; and colonies of the hardy seamen 
trained in that art had been established in both 
England and France, to be the rivals of the ports 
whence they had emigrated. 

The treaty of peace with Great Biitain had 
made provision for the collection of debts due 
to subjects of that country before the breaking 
out of the Revolution. This provision was frus- 
trated by the laws of several of the states, which 
forbade the recovery of such debts. No tribunal 
existed in which the terms of the treaty could be 
made a plea, nor any constitutional provision ma- 
king treaties the supreme law. Individual cupid- 
ity, conspiring with popular prejudice, prevented 
the repeal of the obnoxious acts, and Great Brit- 
ain was thus furnished with a pretence for refusing 
to give up the posts she held in the Western coun- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 231 

try. By these she controlled and influenced the 
Indians, whom the traders of Canada furnished 
with arms and excited to hostility. 

No sooner had the flag of the United States 
made its appearance in the Mediterranean, than 
the pirates of the Barbary coast, seeing it unpro- 
tected by a navy, and having received, as was 
then yielded even by the most powerful maritime 
nations, no tribute as the price of forbearance, 
pounced upon it, making prize of vessel and car- 
go, and carrying the crews into bondage. 

The very opening of the war found the country 
exhausted of all the foreign manufactures which 
are necessaries of civilized life, in consequence of 
the agreements of non-importation ; the occasional 
superiority of the French fleet had allowed the 
importation of some of these from that country, 
but they were of a character foreign to the taste 
and habits founded on the use of British fabrics. 

Manufactures of limited extent had sprung up, 
but they were inadequate to supply more than a 
small part of the domestic demand. The peace, 
therefore, found the population greedy for British 
manufactures, and the first adventurers in those 
articles realized enormous profits. The manufac- 
turers of Great Britain, thus stimulated, poured in 
a vast amount of their goods. The merchants of 
the seaports of the United States purchased these 
with avidity on credit, and gave credits to the 



232 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

traders of the country, who also sought these fat 
lies with greediness. The supply, however, vast 
ly exceeded the means of payment in the impov 
erished state of the country. In the first place, 
the whole of the precious metals were swept 
away, the goods were next offered at large sacri- 
fices, and those who had laid in stocks were ruin- 
ed by the depreciation and by the inability of the 
purchasers at second hand to collect from their 
debtors. 

Public and private credit were thus equally 
prostrated. The opponents of the Revolution be- 
gan to exult over it as a failure, and contrasted 
the prosperity enjoyed as colonies with the im- 
poverished state of the independent republics. 

The people themselves became restless and dis- 
satisfied w^ith their condition. The states, in de- 
nying power to Congress, had not strengthened 
their own. We have seen that the executive of 
Pennsylvania could not muster a force sufficient to 
defend Congress from the insults of a few muti- 
neers, and the other states were not more power- 
ful. Imboldened by this feebleness of the gov- 
ernment, an insurrection broke out in the western 
part of Massachusetts which threatened to destroy 
the supremacy of its laws. This rebellion, known 
from the name of its leader. Shay, was suppressed 
with difficulty, and furnished the enemies of civil 
liberty in Europe with a text whence they des- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 233 

canted on the utter inefficiency of a republican 
form of government. 

i The state of things we have described impress- 
ed lessons of the most salutary character on the 
people. It was at first popular to refuse to con- 
tribute by taxes and imposts to the support of 
government. Independence seemed to be achiev- 
ed by a species of miracle, by the sole resource of 
a credit which failed as soon as the emergency 
was over. The suffering fell, as was necessary, 
in the first place, upon the army, and on those 
who were rich enough to loan money to the gov- 
ernment, or were compelled to accept its paper 
and engagements in payment of debts due to 
them. It next reached the merchant and master 
manufacturer, whom the mechanical workmen 
and day labourers, by some strange obliquity of 
reason, regard with jealousy, and whose distresses 
were rather rejoiced over than pitied. Even the 
agricultural classes did not sympathize with those 
who, labouring at the desk or borne down by the 
cares of traffic, are, notwithstanding, excluded in 
vulgar opinion from the list of working-men or 
productive labourers. 

The sound wisdom which dictated the fable of 
the belly and the members is, however, more 
applicable in our country than in that where it 
quelled the sedition of the plebeian order. When 
the resources of the capitalist are impaired and 
U2 



234 AMEEICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

his confidence is diminished, the trader and manu- 
facturer speedily feel the shock; the distress is 
propagated more slowly to the mechanic and far- 
mer, and strikes the labourer last of all, but at 
each successive step the blow is more violent 
Those possessed of solid wealth feel no more than 
the nominal reduction of their funds, which is 
more than compensated by an increase in the rate 
of interest, and a fall in wages and the prices of 
articles of luxury ; while he who looks to daily 
labour for the means of subsistence finds a dimi- 
nution in the opportunities of occupation, and is 
not only in the receipt of wages lower, even when 
estimated in food and clothing, but is often left 
without employment. 

In the instance before us, the universal preva- 
lence of distress brought the community to a sense 
of the truth of the warnings which the sages of 
the Revolution had so repeatedly uttered, predict- 
ing that the downfall of public credit would be 
surely followed by individual distress, and that the 
want of an efficient superintending government 
would certainly react to the destruction of private 
happiness. There were not wanting ambitious 
politicians w^ho stood in opposition to these salu- 
tary, but, for a time, unpopular truths; but their in- 
fluence was on the wane, and many of them w^ere, 
with nice instinct, preparing to support measm'es 
which were soon to be carried by popular accla- 
mation. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 235 

The separate states had derived then* territories 
from the charters of the British government, and 
were included by boundaries having no reference 
to natural advantages or to the facilities of foreign 
commerce. Some of them, therefore, were in pos- 
session of the great marts of commerce, while oth- 
ers were compelled to receive all their supplies 
of foreign goods through the former. Thus New- 
Jersey, situated between the great emporia of 
New- York and Philadelphia, paid to those states 
a duty on all its consumption of imported mer- 
chandise, without having the means of counter- 
vailing the tax. North Carolina was in the same 
position in respect to Charleston and Norfolk; and, 
at the time of these discussions, Rhode Island im- 
ported for Connecticut and the western part of 
Massachusetts. 

The embarrassments of trade and the conse- 
quent distresses, seem to have been the influential 
causes in leading to the call of the convention by 
which the present Constitution was formed. The 
State of Virginia had attempted to retaliate on 
Great Britain for the heavy tax to which her sta- 
ple was liable on entrance into that country, and 
had thus driven the trade into Maryland. Mary- 
land, however, was, for like reasons, disposed to 
make common cause with Virginia; but it was 
found that the only effect of its adhesion to this 
policy would be to cause the importations to be 
made through Delaware and Pennsylvania. 



236 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

In view of this subject, the commissioners ap- 
pointed by Maryland and Virginia to settle a dis- 
puted boundary had recommended a uniformity 
in the commercial regulations of the two states, 
but had seen the necessity of including the other 
two states which have been mentioned ; and it was 
obvious that similar reasons would require that 
Jersey and New-York should unite in the same 
policy. It was, in consequence, resolved by the 
Legislature of Virginia, that commissioners should 
be named to meet such as might be appointed by 
other states of the Union, for the purpose of ta- 
king into consideration the state of trade, and ex- 
amining how far a uniform system in their com- 
mercial regulations might be advisable. A con- 
vention, in consequence, met at Annapolis in 1786, 
which was attended by delegates from five states, 
namely, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsyl- 
vania, and New- York. Hamilton was among the 
commissioners of the latter state, and took a deci- 
ded lead in the proceedings. This convention de- 
chned to execute the limited task assigned to it, 
and determined to recommend the calling of a new 
convention, with powers adequate to meet the gen- 
eral exigences of the Union. A report was in con- 
sequence adopted and addressed to the legisla- 
tures of the five states represented in the conven- 
tion. Of this report Hamilton was the author. 
After stating that it was not considered advisable 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 237 

to proceed on the business of the session under 
circumstances of a partial and defective represent- 
ation, the report goes on to say, " that the power 
of regulating trade is of such comprehensive ex- 
tent, and will enter so far into the general system 
of the federal government, that to give it efficacy, 
and to obviate questions and doubts concerning 
its precise nature and limits, may require a cor- 
respondent adjustment of other parts of the fed- 
eral system." 

After intimating that national circumstances 
exist " of a nature so serious as to render the sit- 
uation of the United States delicate and critical, 
and calling for an exertion of the united virtue 
and wisdom of all the members of the confed- 
eracy," the report closes as follows : *- 

" Your commissioners beg leave to suggest their 
unanimous conviction, that it may essentially tend 
to advance the interests of the Union, if the states 
by which they have respectively been delegated, 
would themselves concur, and use their endeav- 
ours to procure the concurrence of the other states 
in the appointment of commissioners, to meet at 
Philadelphia on the second Monday in May next, 
to take into consideration the situation of the 
United States; to devise such further provisions 
as shall appear to them necessary to render the 
Constitution of the federal government adequate 
to the exigences of the Union ; and to report such 



238 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

an act for the purpose to the United States in 
Congress assembled, as, when agreed to by them, 
and afterward confomed by the legislatures of 
every state, will effectually provide for the same." 
The plan of a convention of the states for the 
adoption of a more close and federal union, which 
had been proposed by Hamilton in his letters to 
Morris and Duane, was thus, by his instrumentali- 
ty, brought before the states in a manner which 
carried with it enough of authority to require 
some definite action. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 239 



CHAPTER Vni. 

Federal Convention assembles at Philadelphia. — 
Resolutions offered hy Edmund Randolph. — 
Resolutions of Judge Patterson. — Plan offered 
hy Pinckney. — Hamilton's great Speech in the 
Convention, in which he offers a Draught of a 
Constitution. — Examination of its Features. — 
The Delegation from JYew-York retires from the 
Convention!. — Hamilton alone returns and re- 
sumes his Seat. — Franklin's Speech. — Hamil- 
ton urges that all the Members should sign. — 
Hamilton's Speech on that Occasion. — Consider- 
ation of his Services in framing the Consti- 
tution. 

The public did not hesitate to ascribe to Ham- 
ilton the principal agency in procuring the report 
of the Convention at Annapolis. He was there- 
fore lauded by some and decried by others, ac- 
cording to their feelings on the question, as the 
founder of the Union which superseded the con- 
federacy. More recently, when all parties have 
united in admitting the merits of the federal Con- 
stitution, his claims have been disputed. We 
conceive, however, that it is too late to bring 
forward names to divide or divert the honour 



240 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

from him. So long as it was questionable how 
far the popular voice would sanction the new Con- 
stitution, these claims were not advanced ; while 
Hamilton boldly, and on all occasions, maintained, 
even in opposition to the voice of the majority of 
the community of which he was a member, the 
wisdom and propriety of forming a strong and ef- 
ficient government in the place of a feeble confed- 
eracy. His colleagues in the Annapolis Conven- 
tion saw in the change pointed at in their report a 
scheme likely to enhance their local popularity; 
Hamilton could not have been unaware that he 
would have to encounter a powerful opposition 
in the state which he had represented. 

The other membei-s of the Annapohs Conven- 
tion were natives of the states by which they were 
delegated, and, particularly in the case of Virginia, 
entertained feelings of state pride and local par- 
tiality which were ill suited to the discussion of 
the subject committed to them on broad and na- 
tional grounds. Hamilton was perhaps the only 
one of the members who w^as free from such in- 
fluences. He had made the general cause of the 
states the object of his exertions, had no partial 
attachments derived from circumstances of birth or 
early associations ; he bad become a resident of 
the United States at an age which permitted him 
to forget his more early ties, and yet too advanced 
to give him for any particular spot the feehngs of 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 241 

a native. He was thus enabled to view the ques- 
tion of trade in reference to principles of general 
utility ; and it happened most fortunately, that the 
local interests of the powerful State of Virginia 
were at that time in obvious accordance with those 
of the states as a nation. 

By a resolution of the Annapolis Convention, 
their report was communicated, not only to the 
states represented in it, but to the others, and to 
Congress. Virginia was the first state which act- 
ed upon the report ; and by a vote of the Legis- 
lature almost unanimous, a deputation was named 
to attend the Convention in Philadelphia. As a 
proof of the importance attached to the object, 
Washington himself was placed at the head of the 
delegation, and Edmund Randolph, who had just 
filled the office of governor, w^as associated with 
him. Among the other members from Virginia 
was James Madison, who had already distinguish- 
ed himself in the Legislature of his native state 
and in Congress, and who had been a member of 
the Convention at Annapolis. Eleven other states 
speedily adopted similar resolutions ; but Rhode 
Island did not appoint delegates. Hamilton was 
named by the State of New-York along with 
Robert Yates and John Lansing, Jr. 

The Convent' on assembled at Philadelphia on 
the appointed day, when the delegates of nine 
states assembled, namely, Massachusetts, New- 
X 



242 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Vir- 
ginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, 
In a few days the members from Connecticut and 
Maryland made their appearance, but those from 
New-Hampshire did not attend until the 31st of 
July. 

It has rarely happened that an assembly has 
ever met imbodying so much dignity of character 
and talent. Proudly conspicuous among their fel- 
lows were Franklin and Washington, and with 
them are recorded the names of King, Patterson, 
the two Morrises, Wilson, Fitzsimmons, Edmund 
Randolph, Madison, Wythe, and the two Pinck- 
neys. To these were speedily added Strong, Ells- 
worth, Gerry, and Governor Livingston. 

The choice of the meeting might well have 
hesitated between Franklin and Washington as 
the presiding officer ; but all difficulty was at 
once obviated by a motion from the State of Penn- 
sylvania for the appointment of the latter. On 
the motion of Hamilton, Major Jackson was cho- 
sen secretary. 

Before the Convention thus organized, the del- 
egates of Virginia, through Governor Randolph^ 
laid a series of resolutions imbodying the principles 
of a federative government. These were made 
the basis of discussion. A few days afterward 
another scheme was presented by Charles Pinck- 
ney of South Carolina. It is, however, stated by 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 



243 



Madison, in a note to the proceedings of the Con- 
vention, that the pubhshed paper is not the origi- 
nal form presented by Mr. Pinckney, but that the 
manuscript bears marks of having been interlined 
with details which grew up during the proceed- 
ings of the Convention. 

The resolutions offered by Governor Randolph 
were fifteen in number ; they proposed, a right of 
suffrage proportioned to the quotas of contribution 
or the number of free inhabitants ; a national le- 
gislature in two branches, the first to be elected by 
the people of the states, the second to be chosen 
by the first out of candidates named by the state 
legislatures; a national executive, with a council 
of revision; and a national judiciary. 

The first proposition was a change in the whole 
system of the confederation, in which the states 
had hitherto possessed an equal voice, however 
different in population or in wealth. It also exci- 
ted the question of slavery, as in its very terms 
it left open the discussion, whether that part of 
the population was to be counted in apportioning 
the number of representatives. After much discus- 
sion, the ratio which we have seen had been pro- 
posed by Hamilton in the Congress of 1782, 
namely, the addition of three fifths of the slave 
to the free population, was adopted. The smaller 
states, however, seeing their proportional influence 
was thus to be lessened, determined on an effort to 



244 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

retain it. In this they found assistance from Ham 
ilton's colleagues in the New- York delegation, and 
thus secured the vote of that state in their behalf. 
At the instance, therefore, of the states of Con- 
necticut, New-York, New-Jersey, and Delaware, 
wdth one of the members from Maryland, Judge 
Patterson offered a counter project to the plan of 
Governor Randolph. This proposed, as additions 
to the powers already vested in the Congress of 
the confederacy, the authority to raise a revenue 
by import duties, stamps, and postages ; the right 
of regulating commerce with foreign nations and 
between the states ; the power of enforcing requi- 
sitions, according to the ratio of Hamilton, by ma- 
king laws for the collection in case the states 
should neglect to comply. It also proposed a fed- 
eral executive and judiciary, and that treaties 
should be the supreme law of the land. 

It was evident that the principles of the two 
propositions of New-Jersey and Virginia were 
wholly incompatible. The first maintained the 
equality of states differing vastly in wealth and 
population, and gave to their representatives in 
Congress powers of great magnitude, which it 
would have hardly been possible to exercise in 
such manner as to secure the support of a ma- 
jority of the numbers of the people. The second 
swept from the national government all trace of 
the individual sovereignty of the states, and must, 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 245 

had it been carried, have reduced them to the 
level of mere corporations. It comprised, in ad- 
dition, the power of negativing acts of the state 
legislatures, and of employing force to coerce re- 
fractory members of the Union. Such were the 
views of the statesmen of Virginia at this epoch, 
and Madison fully concurred with his colleagues. 
By a number of votes, each preceded by a long 
discussion, the articles proposed by Mr. Randolph 
had been materially modified, while the plan of 
Mr. Patterson had received the support of no more 
than four states. Nothing had been done, after a 
session of more than three weeks, towards the de- 
tails of a constitution; and opposition to those 
parts of the project of Randolph which tended 
to regulate the distribution of the vote in both 
branches by numbers and not by states, seemed to 
be increasmg. The prospects of a favourable re- 
sult appeared to be small; for, even should the 
smaller states be outvoted in the Convention, they 
would probably refuse to accept a constitution 
founded on the propositions of Randolph. Ham- 
ilton bad hitherto been a silent listener to the de- 
bates, partly, as he himself stated, from respect to 
the abilities, age, and experience of the other 
members, and partly from his delicate position in 
relation to his colleagues, with whose sentiments 
he could not agree. Randolph had at last ex- 
pressed almost absolute despair of the success of 
X2 



246 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the Convention, and Hamilton could no longer re- 
frain from uttering his sentiments. His speech oc- 
cupied six hours, and is said to have been one of 
his greatest performances. Nothing, however, 
has been preserved of it in a published form, ex- 
cept a meager report in the minutes of the de- 
bates kept by Madison. From this it is impossi- 
ble to form any just opinion of the eloquence and 
argument it is said to have exhibited. In the 
course of the speech a written paper was read, 
comprising his views of the form of government 
and kind of constitution he would have proposed, 
and parts of which he had it in contemplation to 
offer as amendments to the propositions of Mr. 
Randolph. Of this paper a copy is said to be 
given in the published journals and in the debates 
by Madison. It does not, however, appear proba- 
ble that this can be more than a mere synopsis, 
and a variety of evidence leads to the conclusion 
that the paper actually read by him is that 
which is given by Madison in the appendix to 
his posthumous work. Of this the propositions 
in the journals are evidently an abstract, and it 
seems to have been admitted that a different plan 
was subsequently proposed by Hamilton of a more 
practicable character. The first scheme appears 
to have been his beau ideal of a government, 
which he did not even offer as a subject of dis- 
cussion to the Convention. Taking the British 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 247 

Constitution as the best model of government 
which the world had then seen, he seems to have 
endeavoured to fit it to the circumstances of the 
people of the United States, and by throwing out 
all its corrupt, its aristocratic and royal features, 
to give it the most liberal character consistent 
with efficiency. 

The fundamental feature of this scheme is a 
popular legislative body, to be elected by the 
votes of all the free white male inhabitants of the 
several slates of the Union, for terms to be fixed 
by law, but not to exceed three years. In this 
popular branch, thus frequently brought before 
their constituents, all bills for raising revenue, for 
appropriating moneys to pay fleets and armies, 
and for paying salaries, were to originate ; but 
they might be altered or amended in the other 
branch of the Legislature. In this, the democrat- 
ic part of his proposed constitution, he went far 
greater lengths than the Convention did finally; 
for, although that body adopted the mode pro- 
posed by him for apportioning the members of 
representatives among the states, it left the right 
of suffrage to be regulated by the local laws, 
which at that time required freehold qualifica- 
tions in many of the states. The plan went even 
as far in the election of the popular branch of the 
Legislature as has been done in the late extension 
of suffrage by the new Constitution of the State of 



248 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

New-York. It seems strange that the framer of 
such a project should have been afterward stig- 
matized as a monarchist and an enemy to the pop- 
ular cause. 

The Senate was intended by him to be a body 
capable of giving stability to the government, and 
of controlling the changes in policy which might 
result from the frequent popular elections of the 
lower house. To meet this requisite he proposed 
that the members should hold their seats for life 
and good behaviour. They were to be appointed 
by electors chosen by the freeholders; but there 
was no limit to the requisite landed property, so that 
the smallest possible possession would have giv- 
en a right to vote. It was in the apportionment 
of the numbers of this Senate among the states 
that his refined policy is most obvious. The elec- 
tion being made by districts, every state, however 
small, w^as to constitute a district, while the lar- 
ger states were to be divided into two or more 
districts. The members of the Senate being limit- 
ed to four tenths of those of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, it is obvious that the smaller states 
would have enjoyed more than a proportionate 
representation, while the larger would not have 
had reason to complain, as they may at present, 
that their power and numbers do not give them 
an adequate influence. Yet the numerous repre- 
sentation in the Senate of the larger states would 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 249 

not have been objectionable in consequence of the 
system of districts, and the votes being by pei^ons, 
and not, as in the old Congress, by states. While 
we may doubt how far it would have been expe- 
dient to have adopted the tenure for hfe in the of- 
fice of senator, we must avow our belief that the 
mode of apportioning the numbers of this branch 
of the Legislature proposed in this scheme would 
have been more advantageous than that which 
was adopted. To the Senate, so constituted, the 
exclusive power of declaring war was given, and 
treaties were to be made with its advice and con- 
sent. The Senate was to choose its own presiding 
officer, who was to be ex officio vice-president of 
the Union, and the temporary occupant of a va- 
cancy in the presidency. 

The tenure for life of the senators was not as 
repugnant to the feeUngs of the day as it would at 
present appear. It was universally admitted in the 
Convention, and the public voice sanctioned the 
opinion, that the term for which the senators were 
elected should be long enough to enable them to 
fulfil their duties independently, and without any 
reference to popular excitement of a temporary 
character. The doctrine of instructions, under 
which votes have been given in opposition to the 
conscience of the senator, was not then invented ; 
and there is every reason to believe that this part 
of Hamilton's plan might have been favourably 



250 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

entertained by the Convention, had it not appear- 
ed to be liable to attack from those opposed to the 
Constitution on other grounds. 

The president was to have been chosen by 
electors, of the same number, and in the same 
manner as the present Constitution points out, 
but the qualifications of the voters were to be the 
same as in the case of senators. A more artificial 
mode than has been adopted of verifying the votes 
of the electoral colleges, and meeting the case of 
no candidate having a majority of the whole votes, 
by means of a college of second electors, to be as- 
sembled at the seat of government, under the pres- 
idency of a judge of the Supreme Court, was pro- 
posed. This is not liable to the objections to 
which the choice by the House of Representatives 
in case of no election by the colleges, is obnox- 
ious. 

The tenure of the president's office was to be 
the same as that of a senator, until death, resigna- 
tion, or impeachment. He was to have a nega- 
tive on all bills, resolutions, and acts; to have the 
power of proroguing the Legislature for forty 
days ; to be commander-in-chief of the army and 
navy ; to have the absolute appointment of the 
heads of the four great departments of foreign af- 
fairs, navy, army, and finance ; and, with the con- 
sent of the Senate, the nomination of all officers not 
otherwise provided for in the Constitution ; he was 



ALEXANnER HAMILTON. 251 

to have the power of pardon except in cases of 
treason, which was to require the concurrence of 
the legislative bodies. These high powers were, 
however, to be limited by his being prevented from 
exercising any control over the public purse. The 
planning of the ways and means fell w^ithin the 
duties of the head of the financial department ; but 
the actual custody of the money, in order to its ex- 
penditure according to specific appropriation, was 
to be vested in a treasurer chosen by the Senate 
and House of Representatives ; and the choice was 
not subject to the veto of the president. This pro- 
vision was incorporated in the earlier draughts of 
the Constitution adopted by the Convention, but 
was finally stricken out ; probably because it was 
thought that the management of the finances was 
inseparable from the custody of the money. 

The tenure proposed in this plan by Hamilton 
for the office of president, is probably the reason 
why his political opponents in after days stigma- 
tized him as a monarchist ; and it is obvious that 
the stability of the government might have been 
threatened in the case of a president for life be- 
coming obnoxious to the people. Hamilton, how- 
ever, while he did not exempt the president from 
impeachment, or adopt the feudal doctrine that the 
king can do no wrong, gave him the sole power of 
appointing his cabinet. By this provision that offi- 
cer would have had the opportunity, without loss 



252 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of consideration, of changing his official advisers, 
and thus of adapting his course of action to a com- 
phance with the popular will, expressed through 
the House of Representatives ; and the latter body 
had absolute power of coercion over the heads of 
departments, the Senate, and the president himself, 
in the right of originating annual bills for the pay- 
ment of their salaries. Under the present Con- 
stitution, opposition or delay in the passage of ap- 
propriations for the support of government may be 
stigmatized as factious and unpatriotic, while, 
had the president held his office for life, they 
might have in many cases secured praise as a 
legitimate mode of popular resistance to an un- 
popular ruler. 

In making the term of the president's office no 
more than four years, and permitting him to be re- 
eligible, as in the existing Constitution, the whole 
poHcy of the country, and all the divisions of par- 
ty throughout the Union, have been made to hinge 
on the presidential election. The president him- 
self, during his first term, strains every nerve to 
secure a re-election; while, during the second, 
he is either engaged in intrigues to secure the suc- 
cession of a favourite, or gives up his proper and 
legitimate influence to the candidates. Questions, 
however important they may be in their own mer- 
its, are considered wholly in reference to their 
bearing upon the contest for the presidency. A 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 253 

good and wise measure will be opposed for fear it 
should increase the popularity of the person who 
proposes it, and plans of doubtful expediency will 
be urged for the sake of enlisting popular feeling 
on the side of the administration. The evils of 
the present system are obvious by trial ; what might 
have been those which w^ould have attended an 
election for life, conjecture can alone exhibit. 

The objectionable part of this scheme of Ham- 
ilton's lies in its requiring the chief magistrates 
of the several states to receive their appointment 
from the administration of the general government. 
He must, in proposing this, have foreseen the case 
of the legislative bodies of a state placing them- 
selves in opposition to the general government. 
The remedy, however, appears to be of a nature 
that would tend rather to widen than to close 
the breach; for the veto of a chief magistrate, 
deriving his power from an extrinsic source, would 
have been likely to unite all parties in the indi- 
vidual state. The scenes which were enacted be- 
tween the governors and legislatures of the crown 
colonies would probably have been renewed by 
such a provision. 

The merits of this proposed constitution in point 
of style are very great, and in this respect it cer- 
tainly exceeds that which has been adopted j it 
has also evidently exercised no little influence 
upon the detiils of the latter. 
Y 



254 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The other members of the New-York delega- 
tion retired from the Convention as soon as it was 
decided, beyond the chance of revocation, that the 
representation should be apportioned upon anoth- 
er principle than that of equality among the sev- 
eral states. Hamilton, finding that the vote of the 
state was thus lost, retired also, although from 
very different motives. His return was caused by 
a letter he received from the president of the Con- 
vention. In this, Washington informs him that 
the counsels of the Convention were, " if possible, 
in a worse train than ever ;" that he despaired of 
" seeing a favourable issue to the proceedings ;" 
and therefore " repents having any agency in the 
business." He finally states his sorrow that Ham- 
ilton had gone away, and his wishes for his return. 

Hamilton could not resist this appeal, and again 
took his seat in that body, where he aided in no 
small degree in bringing its labours to a happy 
conclusion. 

The importance of his services cannot be un- 
derstood from the published minutes, nor from the 
more copious report of the debates. They have, 
however, been demonstrated by the testimony of 
one of the members* in the following terms. 

" If the Constitution should not succeed on trial, 
Mr. Hamilton was less responsible for such a re- 
sult than any other member; for he fully and 
* W. S. Johnson, LL.D. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 255 

frankly pointed out to the Convention the infirmi- 
ties to which it was Hable : and if it answered the 
fond expectations of the public, the community 
would be more indebted to him than to any other 
member ; for, after its essential outlines were agreed 
to, he laboured most indefatigably to heal those 
infirmities, and to guard against the evils to which 
they might expose it." 

Much of the real business of the Convention 
does not appear on the minutes ; for it consisted in 
the reconciliation of opposing interests, in antici- 
pation of the vote and argument before the formal 
meeting. The questions which disturbed the har- 
monious action of the Convention were as follows : 

1. The equality of the votes of the respective 
states, as distinguished from a representation in 
proportion to population. 

2. The representation of the slave population, 
which, it was urged on the one hand, ought to be 
excluded altogether, and, on the other, that it 
ought to be counted in full. 

3. The question whether the importation of Af- 
ricans should be permitted or prevented. 

So irreconcilable did the opinions of the mem- 
bers from different sections of the country appear 
on these questions, that, after four or five weeks 
spent in fruitless discussions, Franklin, the Nestor 
of the Convention, inquired, " that, groping, as it 
were, in the dark to find political truth, and 



256 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

scarce able to distinguish it when presented, how 
it had happened that they had hitherto not once 
thought of humbly applying to the Father of 
Lights to illuminate their understandings ?" 

"We have been assured," said he, in continua- 
tion, " in the sacred writings, that, except the Lord 
' build the house, they labour in vain that build 
it' I firmly believe this; and I also firmly be- 
lieve, that without his concurring aid we shall 
succeed in this political building no better than the 
builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our 
little partial interests ; our projects will be con- 
founded; and we ourselves shall become a re- 
proach and a by-word down to future ages ; and, 
what is worse, mankind may henceforth, from this 
unfortunate instance, despair of establishing gov- 
ernments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, 
war, and conquest." He, in consequence, moved 
that the meetings of the Convention be opened by 
prayer. 

In the closing scene of the Convention Hamil- 
ton strenuously urged upon all present to sign the 
Constitution that had been adopted by a majority 
of the members, and by a unanimous vote of the 
states represented. In corroboration of his appeal 
he stated his own case, who did not assent in his 
judgment to the plan as adopted, and yet had de- 
termined to sign the instrument, and maintain its 
excellences in opposition to gainsayers. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 257 

It is very evident that his expressions of dissat- 
isfaction with the provisions of the Constitution re- 
fer not to the practical working of the instrument, 
but to the difference between it and the model of 
perfection he had formed in his own mind. He 
had, indeed, combated those who differed from him 
in their views step by step, in the hopes of amend- 
ing its provisions, or of introducing changes more 
likely to render the government stable and effi- 
cient ; but he unquestionably agreed with Frank- 
lin in the opinion which that venerable patriot pro- 
nounced, that it was the best which could be car- 
ried, nay, perhaps the best for its objects which 
could be framed. 

We have thus seen that Hamilton was the first 
to propose an amendment to the old articles of 
confederation by a convention of the states ; that 
he in various ways rendered efficient aid in awa- 
kening the public mind to the importance of a 
more firm union, and of the necessity of a gener- 
al government which should emanate from, and 
act directly upon, the people ; that he was the fra- 
mer of the address of the partial Convention at 
Annapolis, in conformity with which the general 
Congress recommended the Convention of 1789, 
and the several states appointed delegates ; that 
he was an active member of the latter Conven- 
tion, and the first to propose a constitution in such 
a form as could have been carried into effect. 
Y2 



258 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

His admirers have therefore been fully warranted 
in claiming for him a conspicuous agency in giv- 
ing to the country the blessings it now enjoys, of 
a stable, energetic, and yet popular form of gov- 
ernment. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 259 



CHAPTER IX. 

Discussions in respect to the Federal Constitution. 
— Hamilton unites vyith Jay and Madison in 
writing the Federalist. — Letters of Philo~Pub- 
lius. — State Convention at Poughkeepsie. — 
Hamilton is a member of that Convention, 
and takes an active 'part in its Proceedings. 
— The Federal Constitution Ratified by that 
Convention. — Reflections on the Constitution. 
— Change of Popular Feeling, and Rejoi- 
cings in New-York on its final Adoption. 

No sooner had the Convention completed its 
labours, and the proposed Constitution been given 
to the pubHc, than discussions arose in relation to 
the propriety of adopting it. The great majority 
of the members of the Convention had, in signing 
it, abandoned all their individual views, and, satis- 
fied that it was the best plan of government which 
could be obtained, resolved to unite all their ener- 
gies in procuring its ratification by Congress and 
by the Conventions of the States. There were, 
however, some members of the Convention, be- 
longing to the party which had desired to retain 
the equal influence of the states in the govern- 
ment, who had not signed, or had €ven withdrawn 



260 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

before the declarations were closed. These car- 
ried to their homes a feeling hostile to the propo- 
sed Constitution, and the disposition to arouse an 
opposition to its ratification. Among these were 
Hamilton's colleagues from New-York, who rep- 
resented the feelings and wishes of the adminis- 
tration of that state. 

It was apparent that the refusal of New-York 
to join in the federal union would be fatal to the 
plan. No other of the states which appeared to 
be opposed to it had equal power, or had such 
advantages of position as would render a union 
among the others nugatory. The majority of the 
delegates from the other eleven states had acqui- 
esced finally in the draught of the Constitution, 
and had assented to the compromises which had 
ensured its adoption; the New-York delegation 
had withdrawn from the Convention; and, al- 
though Hamilton returned and had signed the 
Constitution as a delegate, by rules borrowed from 
those of the old Congress, more than a single del- 
egate was necessary to give a state a vote. 

It was, for the above reasons, admitted on all 
hands that the battle for the Constitution was to 
be fought in New-York, and that it could only be 
gained by the overthrow of the influence of the 
governor of that state and a change in the popu- 
lar sentiment. To effect these objects would re- 
quire -great talent, skill in the management of 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 261 

men, with ability in the exhibition of the advan- 
tages to flow from the Constitution, and of the 
dangers to be apprehended from its rejection. 

Hamilton saw, and felt more clearly than any 
other person, how important was the ratification of 
the Constitution by the state he had represented ; 
and no sooner had the Convention adjourned, than 
he undertook the task of exhibiting these advan- 
tages on the one hand, and dangers on the other, 
to the people of the State of New-York directly, 
and, through them, to the citizens of the remain- 
der of the states. For this purpose he commen- 
ced the publication of a series of papers in the 
New-York Gazette, under the signature of Pub- 
Lius. In these, addressed to the people of the 
State of New-York, he proposed to consider " the 
utility of the Union to their political prosperity; 
the insufficiency of the existing confederation to 
preserve that Union; the necessity of a govern- 
ment, at least equally energetic with the one pro- 
posed, to the attainment of that object ; the con- 
formity of the proposed Constitution to the true 
principles of republican government; its analogy 
to the Constitution of their own state ; and, lastly, 
the additional security its adoption would afford 
to the preservation of that species of government, 
to liberty, and to property." 

Well aware of the vast interests at stake, Ham- 
ilton was unwilling to rely upon his own strength 



262 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

for the illustration of these important topics; he 
therefore sought and obtained able coadjutors. 
The opening number of the series is immediately 
followed by four written by John Jay, and the 
same veteran statesman contributed a fifth in the 
course of the publication. A far greater amount 
of assistance was obtained from Madison, who, 
according to memoranda left by Hamilton in his 
own hand, and which are deposited in the New- 
York Society Library, wrote thirteen of the num- 
bers, and was the joint author of three more. 
Madison has himself claimed a greater share in 
the authorship of these papers, and we thus have 
the conflicting claims of these two distinguished 
men, each under his own hand. 

It is stated that Hamilton's papers contain con- 
clusive evidence that the ideas and even the lan- 
guage of the disputed letters are to be found in 
briefs prepared by him for speeches delivered in 
the Convention. If this be the case, the ground 
of the conflicting claim will be apparent, and the 
discrepancy reconciled; for Hamilton may well 
and justly have claimed authorship in papers 
drawn up by Madison from his memoranda. At 
all events, even were Madison's claims admitted 
to its utmost extent, Hamilton will still retain the 
honour of being the projector of the publication, 
and of having contributed the greater part, as 
well as the most valuable, of the papers of Pub- 
lius. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 263 

These papers were not permitted to remain un- 
answered, and several able writers arrayed them- 
selves in opposition to their argimients, and to the 
adoption of the Constitution itself. These replies 
are rarely alluded to in the course of the num- 
bers ; but a separate series, under the name of Phi- 
lo-Publius, was commenced in another newspaper, 
to which the task of rebutting objections was con- 
fined. The original plan of Publius was thus 
carried out without deviation, while all the neces- 
sary illustrations, and the refutal of all opponents, 
made their appearance in the other series. In 
this Hamilton also took the lead, but received as- 
sistance from various other quarters. Among the 
writers of Philo-Publius is particularly to be nam- 
ed Colonel Duer, who undertook the subject of 
finance, and exhibited much ability in the con- 
troversy. 

The plan of dividing the subjects likely to be of 
general and lasting interest from those local and 
.general, has been attended with happy results. 
The papers of Publius have been collected and 
published, while those of Philo-Pubhus ceased to 
be remembered as soon as the occasion which 
called for them had ceased to exist. Had the 
whole been united in one series, it would have 
been so cumbrous, and loaded with so much mat- 
ter wholly irrelevant at the present day, that it 
would probably have found but few readers ; b"^ 



264 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

by confining the series of Publius to the objects 
stated on setting out, these papers, collected in 
two volumes under the name of "The Federal- 
ist," have gone through many editions, and are 
the best commentary which has yet appeared on 
the provisions of the Constitution. 

These letters of Publius have therefore deter- 
mined the sense of all doubtful passages in that 
instrument. They are now consulted by all par- 
ties as authority, and are the ablest exposition of 
its general features which has yet appeared. 

The letters of Publius were not allowed to re- 
main unanswered, and the anti-federal press teem- 
ed with paragraphs and pamphlets condemning 
the proposed Constitution. These were not with- 
out their effect in confirming many in their old 
prejudices ; but the Federalist carried conviction 
on all the most important points to the great body 
of the people. It thus happened, that although 
the majority of the New- York State Convention, 
which was convened to deliberate on the proprie- 
ty of adopting or rejecting that instrument, was in 
favour of the latter alternative, it was yet under 
the necessity of giving its provisions a patient 
hearing, and of submitting the question to the 
test of argument rather than of party feeling. 

Hamilton w^as chosen a member of this Conven- 
tion, wdiich assembled at Poughkeepsie. He, with 
all who were committed in its favour, counted no 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 265 

more than ten votes, while its opponents were 
nearly four times that number. But he had with 
him Jay and Chancellor Livingston, who were in 
themselves a host. 

On the opening of the Convention, Chancellor 
Livingston, who, from high station and long pub- 
lic service, deservedly claimed to be placed in the 
front of the federal party, moved the considera- 
tion of the instrument by sections. The great 
question of acceptance or rejection was, by the 
adoption of this motion, left to the close of the 
proceedings instead of being encountered at the 
beginning. In the discussion, thus adroitly com- 
menced, the majority became committed to the 
general policy of a more close union of the states, 
and the questions were confined to the detail. 
The opponents of the Constitution thus wasted 
their strength in the proposal of amendments and 
changes. Many of these, and among the rest a 
bill of rights, were unobjectionable in themselves, 
and only to be opposed on the ground that they 
were in fact unnecessary, as being implied or cov- 
ered by the common law. 

It now became a matter of consideration wheth- 
er they should be adopted by the Federalists with 
a view of conciliation, or opposed. The latter 
policy prevailed, it being discovered that a ready 
acquiescence would have caused new grounds of 
objection to be sought for. In the discussions 
Z 



266 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

which were thus protracted, every occasion was 
seized by Hamilton to portray, with all the pow- 
ers of his eloquence, the advantages of union, the 
dano"ers of a broken confederacy, and the other 
evils which would follow in case the Constitution 
were not adopted. Every means of conciliation 
and compromise that could be employed were ex- 
hausted, until the majority was broken into two 
parties, directed by diferent motives. During the 
debates, the news of the ratification by other states 
were received in succession, until finally it appear- 
ed that the condition upon which the Constitution 
was to go into effect had been fulfilled, and that 
New-York was likely to be left almost alone if it 
should refuse to enter into the federal Union. 

Finally, after a long and protracted discussion, 
the Convention of the state adopted the Constitu- 
tion unconditionally. In the instrument of rat- 
ification, however, a declaration of rights is insert- 
ed, as explanatory and consistent with the Con- 
stitution; full confidence is there expressed that, 
until amendments for the purpose be made in the 
Constitution, the militia shall not be called to serve 
out of the state for a longer term than six weeks 
without the consent of the Legislature ; that Con- 
gress will not make or alter any law of the state 
in relation to the election of senators and repre- 
sentatives in Congress, unless the state Legislature 
shall neglect or refuse to make provision in the 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 267 

premises ; that no excise should be laid except on 
ardent spirits; that the general government should 
not levy direct taxes, unless a requisition had first 
been made and neglected. 

To the instrument of ratification is appended an 
injunction on the representatives of the state in 
Congress to use their exertions to obtain certain 
amendments to the Constitution, including the 
foregoing points. These proposed amendments 
contain, in addition, a restriction of the right of 
sitting in Congress to native-born citizens, and 
those of foreign birth already possessed of the 
right of citizenship ; a clause forbidding monopo- 
lies ; others prohibiting standing armies in time of 
peace, without the consent of two thirds of both 
houses j and forbidding the borrowing of money 
or the declaration of war except by a similar vote. 
Of the amendments thus proposed several were 
speedily brought forward, and, after a compliance 
with the mode prescribed in the Constitution, were 
ingrafted on that instrument. 

It is remarkable, that, among all the objections 
urged and amendments proposed to the federal 
Constitution at the time of its ratification, none of 
those which have become apparent in its action 
were pointed out. With all its defects, it is, be- 
yond doubt, the most perfect plan of government 
which has ever been formed by a WTitten instru- 
ment. The democratic principle, which bears 



268 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

such sway in the composition of the House of Rep- 
resentatives, is so well balanced by the influence 
of state sovereignties in the Senate, the responsi- 
bility of the executive is so adequate on the face 
of the instrument to the great extent of its powers, 
and the whole so justly controlled by an independ- 
ent judiciary, that the jurisconsult can hardly de- 
tect a flaw. Nor has its working been less admi- 
rable than its theory ; and foreign nations still look 
with surprise to the spectacle of a country possess- 
ed of unbounded personal freedom, in which the 
law is administered to the adequate security of 
life, hberty, and property, without the semblance 
of physical force to maintain it. 

Those, however, who, with feelings of disinter- 
ested patriotism, look into the internal workings 
of the machine, are apt to detect an extension of 
executive influence through the innumerable of- 
fices of which that branch of the government has 
the disposal, that seems likely to control the de- 
liberations of the popular branch by the hope of 
reward. The oflfice of president has become of 
such importance, that all questions are merged in * 
the election of that magistrate; and the great in- i 
terests of the country are neglected, or considered 
only in reference to the manner in which they 
may promote or impair the prospects of a presi- 
dential candidate. 

In these discussions, the wise compromises of 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 269 

&e framers of the Constitution have been set at 
naught; the people have been told, and many 
have beheved, that different portions of the coun- 
try have different interests ; and that the agricul- 
ture, the commerce, and the manufactures of the 
Union, so far from being bound up in one insepar- 
able chain, are hostile to each other's prosperity. 
Divide et impera has been the motto of the inter- 
ested politician; the doctrine of states' rights has 
been preached by those most interested to maintain 
the ascendancy of the federal power; the yeo- 
manry of the North have been excited against the 
slaveholders of the South; the planters against the 
manufacturers, and the farmers against the mer- 
chants. The country is now suffering under the 
consequences of these heretical doctrines, and is, 
with all the elements of unexampled prosperity, 
in a state of incredible distress. 

The theory of the government, that the intelli- 
gence of the people, however slowly reached, must 
finally compel the administration and legislative 
bodies to the course most conducive to the general 
interests, seems, however, to be fully established 
as correct. Fifty years of stability, and most of 
that time of great prosperity, have elapsed, and 
thus our government can no longer be regarded 
as a mere experiment how far the people are fitted 
for self-government; or, if it have been an experi-r 
ment, that experiment is successful. 
Z2 



270 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Experience seems to have fully proved that the 
permanence of our institutions is in no danger from 
any of the causes which have in other climes em- 
barrassed popular governments. We have no am- 
bitious royal neighbour possessed of power suffi- 
cient to conquer and destroy our freedom, as Philip 
and Alexander did that of the Grecian republics. 
Fond as we are of military renown and grateful 
for martial service, the army, as a body, can never 
control our elections or prevent their occurrence. 
The military establishment, so far from being the 
probable instrument of a tyranny, is the most in- 
dependent of executive influence of all the depart- 
ments of national organization. We need, there- 
fore, never apprehend the appearance of a Caesar, 
a Cromwell, or a Napoleon. The breaking up of 
entails, and the division of property at every new 
generation, will for ever prevent the formation of 
an aristocracy, and the utmost sway which it can 
attain is that over the fashionable world of our 
cities, which experience has shown to be without 
the pale of political influence. Nay, could any 
one of these causes influence the general govern- 
ment, the sovereignty of the states furnishes a se- 
cure barrier against any actual encroachment on 
popular liberty. 

Party spirit has, however, erected a tyranny 
which may, in the semblance of respect for the 
popular will, end in rendering that will nugatory. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 271 

Political men now no longer dare to avow their 
real sentiments, or are compelled to act in oppo- 
sition to them. The members of a defeated party 
are often, to all intents and purposes, disfranchised 
unless they abandon the principles for which they 
may have conscientiously contended. 

After the State Convention adjourned, the popu- 
lar voice speedily confirmed its decision. The op- 
ponents of the federal Union, who had previously 
enjoyed the entire confidence of the people, lost 
much of their influence, and would have been de- 
prived of it altogether had they not joined in the 
popular feeling. This was strongest in the city, 
and the final ratification by the required number 
of states was celebrated there with demonstrations 
of joy such as have never been surpassed. In 
these, the very persons who had lately prided 
themselves in the name of anti-federalist, and 
were shortly to be arrayed against the adminis- 
tration of the federal government upon new ques- 
tions of policy, bore their full share. Many were 
sincere converts ; and, either in the hopes of per- 
sonal advantage under the new government, or 
influenced by more pure motives, gave to its early 
steps their devoted support. There were, how- 
ever, others, who had been influenced in their sup- 
port of the proceedings of the Convention, and in 
urging the ratification of the Constitution by the 
states, by motives of ambition or desire of emolu-r 



272 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ment, who were disappointed in its action upon 
their interests, and stood ready to seize any op- 
portunity which might present itself to form an 
opposition to its administration. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 273 



CHAPTER X. 

Washington is chosen President. — Organiza- 
tion of the Executive Departments. — Hamil- 
ton is appointed Secretary of the Treasury. — 
His Report on Public Credit, in which he 
recommends the funding of the Debt and the 
laying of an Excise. — Opposition to the Fund- 
ing System, which is, however, carried. — The 
Excise is also opposed, but carried. — Plan of 
a National Bank, which receives a Charter. — 
Constitutional Question raised in relation 
to it. 

The advanced age of Franklin rendered it in- 
expedient that he should be a candidate for the 
presidency, nor is it probable that he would have 
permitted himself to be proposed. Washington 
was, in consequence, the only person who would 
be likely to unite all suffrages. He had, however, 
on resigning his commission at the close of the 
war, announced his intention of retiring from pub- 
lic business, and had been with difficulty induced 
to act as a member of the Convention. To aban- 
don his retirement for the labours of the office of 
president was even more repugnant to his wishes. 
Still, in the mmds of all the friends of the new 



274 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Constitution, the belief was universal, that the 
only chance of its receiving a fair trial depended 
upon his acceptance of that office. 

The opposition to the Constitution was so strong, 
and had been so violent, that the authority of any 
name less potent than his would have been insuf- 
ficient to prevent acts which might have been fa- 
tal to the success of the experiment. His repug- 
nance was such that it became necessary that he 
should be strongly urged to allow his being pro- 
posed as a candidate for the presidency; and, 
among others, we find Hamilton writing to him on 
the subject, and pressing him to undertake this im- 
portant office. Washington, convinced by these 
arguments, no longer attempted to shun the re- 
sponsibilities involved in the executive duties of 
the new Constitution, and his name was proposed 
to the electoral colleges. 

It was speedily known that his election had 
been effected with no other want of unanimity 
than was sufficient to obtain a choice of vice-pres- 
ident. So much apathy, however, existed, and 
so little hope of improvement in the prosperity of 
the country, that a month elapsed from the day ap- 
pointed for the meeting before a quorum of both 
houses could be formed for the purpose of count- 
ing the votes, and giving official notice to Wash- 
ington of his election. 

The president having assumed his duties, the 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 275 

two houses applied themselves diligently to organ- 
ize the executive departments. Three of these 
were formed, each under the direction of a head 
styled a secretary ; namely, that of foreign affairs, 
that of the treasury, and that of war ; the latter 
of which included the superintendence of naval 
affairs as well as of the army. Of these three 
heads of departments, with the attorney-general, 
a cabinet was formed, and Washington introdu- 
ced the practice of performing no important exec- 
utive act without consulting it. His method, how- 
ever, was that of requiring their separate written 
opinions, after a careful perusal of which his own 
was made up and acted upon. He thus, without 
attempting to avoid responsibility, had the advan- 
tage of the separate deliberate reflections of four 
men of the highest eminence. 

The law which organized the treasury depart- 
ment was drawn, it is said, by Hamilton. It un- 
derwent some alterations before it passed, but is, 
in its great principles, the offspring of his mind. 
It contains a provision intended to obviate the de- 
fect which has been noted as existing in the Con- 
stitution, by which the custody of the purse is in- 
trusted to the nominee of the executive. This 
provision requires the secretary of the treasury to 
report directly to the House of Representatives. 
It was also intended to have given the head of the 
department more of a ministerial character, by al- 



276 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

lowing him a seat, and a right to speak in the 
House of Representatives. 

Hamilton, in truth, seems to have understood 
b6tter the dangers to which the liberties of our 
country may at some future time be subjected than 
most other persons. He saw no chance of an at- 
tempt at changing the popular forms and institu- 
tions; he was aware that the natural bias was 
rather to render them more than less democratic 
in their external character ; but he did see a dan- 
ger in vesting the whole control of the public 
purse in the same hands which bore the sword ; 
he wished to make the executive stronger in the 
exercise of its necessary prerogatives, but to de- 
prive it of the means of corruption. 

When the bills creating the departments had 
become laws, Washington, who had hitherto, with 
his accustomed reserve, avoided all committal in 
respect to persons, called Hamilton to preside 
over the treasury. The department of foreign af- 
fairs was intrusted to Jefferson, who had been a 
stranger to the discussions of the Convention, and 
had been, until a late period, considered inimical to 
the new Constitution. Knox, who had held the 
war department under the confederation, was re- 
tained in the same position, and Edmund Ran- 
dolph was appointed attorney-general. With 
these nominations the public at large was well 
satisfied ; but there were individuals who had as- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 277 

pired to stations in the cabinet that were disap- 
pointed. We shall have occasion to see the re- 
sults of this feeling as we proceed. 

Among the earhest duties which the Secretary 
of the Treasury was called upon to perform, was 
a report to Congress on public credit. This had 
been required of him by a resolution of the House 
of Representatives passed 21st September, 1789, 
and his report was presented on the 9th of Jan- 
uary, 1790. The resolution expressed the opin- 
ion " that an adequate provision for the support of 
public credit is a matter of high importance to the 
honour and prosperity of the United States," and 
called on the secretary for a plan for redeeming 
it from the low ebb to which, as we have seen, it 
had fallen. 

Setting out from principles which he considers 
undeniable, namely, that exigencies will occur in 
which nations must borrow; that, to borrow on 
good terms, the credit of the nation should be well 
established : he infers, that on the observance of 
these principles must depend not merely the 
possibility of obtaining future loans on good 
terms, but "the individual and aggregate pros- 
perity of the citizens of the United States ; their 
relief from existing embarrassments; their char- 
acter as a people; and the cause of good gov- 
ernment." 

He next shows how public credit is injured by 
A A 



278 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the breach of pubhc engagements ; the moral ob- 
ligation to observe good faith with the public 
creditor, and its pecuhar sanction in relation to 
the debt of the United States, which was "the 
price of liberty." 

In continuation, he shows the advantage to be 
gained in funding the floating debt, by converting 
a dead into an active capital, and the great ben- 
efit this conversion would confer on the landed 
interest. 

He then takes up the question whether the 
holder of the pubhc securities should alone be en- 
titled to the benefit derived from funding them, 
or whether regard should be had to the manner 
and terms on which he became possessed of 
them ; and, by an unanswerable argument, shows 
that all considerations of policy and justice were 
in favour of the former course. 

He next proceeds to examine whether any dis- 
tinction ought to be drawn between the creditors 
of the general government and those of the indi- 
vidual states, and comes to the conclusion that 
both were equally entitled to consideration. 

It is subsequently inquired whether the arrears 
of the interest ought to be put on the same footing 
with the principal, and is decided in the affirma- 
tive. 

These preliminaries settled, he gives a state- 
ment of the amount of debt due by Congress for 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 279 

principal and interest, together with an estimate 
of that due by the separate states. The cinnual 
interest on the two is then inferred to be about 
four and a half millions of dollars. Six different 
plans for funding the debt are then presented, and 
each contains a provision for its extinction, by the 
annual payment of a gxeater sum than the pro- 
posed interest ; while, on the other hand, it is pro- 
posed as a stipulation, that no more than this an- 
nual payment shall be directly apphed to the re- 
demption of the debt. 

The secretary next enters into an estimate of 
the ways and means for providing for the interest 
and redemption of the debt proposed to be fund- 
ed. During the first session of Congress a tariff 
had been adopted. In this the imposts on some 
articles had been carried to an extent as large as 
they could possibly bear, yet a deficiency of in- 
come was still left. A further increase would have 
led to smuggling. To meet this deficiency by a 
tax on property was contrary to the policy of Ham- 
ilton. He therefore had recourse to an excise. 
Retaining the existing duties on imports and ton- 
nage, he proposes to levy a tax on wines, spirits, 
teas, and coffee, including an excise on spirits 
distilled within the United States. This part of 
his report refers to a draught of a law submitted 
with it, which was passed almost verbatim. 

As a further source of revenue, he speaks of the 



280 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

postoffice, whence he estimates that a million of 
dollars might be derived to the general use. 

Convinced that the maintenance of the public 
credit required the appropriation of specific funds 
for the interest and redemption of the debt, he 
proposes the application of the product of the ex- 
cise on spirits to the payment of the interest on 
the foreign debt, while the revenue of the post- 
office, to the extent of $1,000,000, was to be vest- 
ed in commissioners as a sinking fund. 

Finally, after exhibiting the great advantages 
to be derived from bringing the stock, at as 
early a period as possible, to its par value in the 
market, he proposes, as a step to this desirable re- 
sult, the establishment of a National Bank, for 
which he promises to submit a plan. 

This scheme met with strong opposition in Con- 
gress. No voice, indeed, was raised against the 
funding of the foreign debt ; but such a provision 
for that due to Americans, and, still more, the as- 
sumption of the debts of the states, excited much 
clamour. It was argued that, inasmuch as the 
greater part of the actual holders of claims on the 
government had obtained them at prices far be- 
low their nominal amount, it would be proper that 
the government should not admit their claims for 
more than they had actually paid. This ground 
was taken by Madison, who, after having been 
for several years the close intimate of Hamilton, 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 281 

and his coadjutor in the measures which led to 
the adoption of the Constitution, now appeared as 
the opponent of all his propositions. 

The proposal for the assumption of the state 
debts excited all the sectional feelings which had 
embarrassed the proceedings of the Convention, 
and caused much angry recrimination. After a 
lengthened debate, the policy of Hamilton pre- 
vailed ; the holders of the domestic debt were ad- 
mitted to the privilege of having it funded, while 
a gross sum of twenty-one millions was ordered to 
be allowed to the states for the amount of their 
debts. 

"Whatever of praise or blame may be attached 
to these measures, Hamilton alone is entitled to 
the one or liable to the other. The president 
kept himself aloof, nor did he call for its discus- 
sion in the cabinet until the bills had passed 
both houses. He rightly considered the plan as 
falling specifically within the ministerial duties 
of the Secretary of the Treasury, and its adop- 
tion or rejection as the prerogative of the repre- 
sentative bodies. When, however, it became his 
duty to sign or return the bill, he promptly gave 
it his official sanction, although it is believed 
that, of the other heads of departments, Knox 
alone entered fully into the views of Hamilton, 
while Jefferson and Randolph were opposed to 
the funding system. After maturely weighing 
the several arguments, the president decided in 



28^ AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

favour of the plan of Hamilton, and signed the 
bill. 

The subject of an excise was not reached by 
the first Congress, but was taken up by that 
which commenced its sittings in December, 1790. 
This question was debated with great warmth, 
and the plan of Hamilton was violently opposed. 
The resistance it met with in Congress was, not- 
withstanding, far less than that which was speedi- 
ly excited among the more ignorant members of 
the community. By a mistaken notion in physi- 
ology, it had become an opinion almost universal, 
that in the climate of a great portion of the 
United States, ardent spirit was a necessary bev- 
erage, alone or diluted with water. Hence al- 
most every adult in the United States was a con- 
sumer of it ; and, although in most cases in great 
moderation, there were still multitudes who, under 
the popular error, had no sense of shame in in- 
dulging in alcoholic liquids to excess. The trade 
in this article was thus an important branch of 
commerce, and its manufacture one of the most 
extensive branches of national industry. It was 
thus easy for those who had been compelled to 
abandon their opposition to the federal Constitu- 
tion to awaken a powerful feeling against the ex- 
cise. The measure, in spite of all opposition 
withm or without the halls of Congress, became a 
law. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 283 

By the funding of the national debt, the forma- 
tion of a system of duties and excise, by which 
the payment of its interest regularly, and its gradu- 
al redemption were ensured, public credit was re- 
stored. The country almost instantly passed from 
a state of misery, despondence, and inactivity, to 
one of prosperity, buoyant hope, and prosperous 
industry. Hamilton, however, did not consider 
his great system of ameliorating policy complete. 
The debt was still, in a great degree, a dead capi- 
tal ; the rate of interest was still too high to per- 
mit it to assume its par value. Agriculture was 
the only branch of industry which had revived ; 
commerce, although improved, was still in a lan- 
guishing state ; while manufactures were wanting 
to complete the great circle of national prosperity. 
We have seen that, in the very lowest ebb of 
the credit of the Convention, Hamilton had looked 
to a bank as a sure mode of restoring it. Those 
less clear-sighted than himself could not perceive 
the connexion between such an institution and a 
trust in the good faith and ability of the govern- 
ment, and ridiculed the idea. Morris had, howev- 
er, tried the experiment on a limited scale, and the 
result had shown the magical power of such an in- 
stitution. Hamilton now brought forward the 
scheme of a National Bank as his final measure 
of finance. By forming the capital of this in a 
great measure of the funded debt, he proposed to 



284 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

I 

convert so much dead into active capital, rightly 
concluding that the deposites and circulation which 
confidence in an institution founded on such a se- 
curity must attain, would equal the stock thus en- 
gaged in its business. 

The idea of creating a National Bank was in- 
timated to Congress in his report on public credit. 
The House of Representatives speedily called 
upon him for a plan of such an institution, which 
he submitted on the 13th December, 1790. The 
arguments in favour and against a National Bank 
are too familiar to require that the merits of this 
question should be here discussed. It is sufficient 
to say, that in his report every argument by which 
the expediency and utility of such an institution 
can be supported is ably and fully set forth. The 
subject is in truth exhausted ; and while this report 
has served as the text of innumerable laboured 
and copious glosses, no new views have been elici- 
ted either by experience or study. The plan 
which he submitted, as imbodied in the first Bank 
of the United States, was perfect ; and all the 
changes which have been proposed, and the mod- 
ifications which were introduced in the charter of 
the second bank, have tended to impair the effi- 
ciency of Hamilton's original plan. 

The attempt made by the leaders of the anti- 
fedcTalists and the disappointed expectants of of- 
fice lo rally an opposition on the questions of fund- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 285 

mg the debt and creating an excise, appeared like- 
ly to be a failure. The question of a bank held out 
a more promising foundation for principles which 
might serve as the landmarks of a party. The 
fact that no express authority had been given to 
the general government to create a bank was 
eagerly seized upon, and the constitutionality of 
such an institution was denied. Madison, as on the 
former occasions, led the opposition, and framed 
the arguments by which the power of Congress in 
the premises was disproved. With how much sin- 
cerity he entertained the opinions he thus brought 
forward may be inferred from the fact, that, when 
president, he repeatedly recommended a bank as 
the only cure for evils similar to those which exist- 
ed at the adoption of the Constitution, and finally 
signed the charter of the second Bank of the Uni- 
ted States. The ingenious casuistry employed on 
this occasion has the merit of bending itself to ev- 
ery variety of circumstances, and will enable an 
adroit chief magistrate to shelter his rejection of 
almost any questionable measure under the cloak 
of constitutional scruples. So nice is the web 
of the argument, that it did not prevent Madison 
himself from maintaining his perfect consistency 
in declaring a bank unconstitutional as member 
of Congress, and aiding in his legislative capacity 
to create one when president. 

The charter of the bank, in spite of this power- 



286 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ful and ingenious opposition, passed both houses of 
Congress, and was submitted to the president for 
his signature. He now demanded the opinions 
of his cabinet. Jefferson and Randolph had be- 
come converts to the doctrine of a strict construc- 
tion of the Constitution, if the former, in his jeal- 
ousy of Hamilton, which had become the obvious 
spring of his actions, had not, in fact, prompted 
the argument of Madison. Knox, on the other 
hand, concurred with Hamilton; and the latter 
replied to the opinions of the secretary of state and 
attorney-general in an argument which, to the 
present day, is the admiration of all who read it. 
It was successful in removing all the patriotic scru- 
ples of Washington, and the charter received his 
signature. It has since been confirmed by the suc- 
cessive judicial opinions of Jay, of Ellsworth, and 
of Marshall ; been sanctioned by the practice of 
Jefferson ; and has governed the course of Madi- 
son himself. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON^ 287 



CHAPTER XI. 

Success of the Bank of the United States. — 
Hamilton's Report on Manufactures. — His 
Report on a Mint. — Dissensions in the Cabi- 
net. — Origin of the two great Parties. — Proc- 
lamation of Neutrality. — Mission of Genet, 
and his offensive Acts. — Proceedings of the 
Government in relation to them. — Letters of 
Pacifcus. 

The institution of the Bank of the United 
States speedily fulfilled the expectations of its 
founders. Commerce revived completely ; the 
intercourse between the states, facilitated by an 
equalization of the exchanges, became more inti- 
mate ; the price of the debt rose to its par value ; 
the revenues of the government were placed be- 
yond the reach of peculation, and disbursed in the 
most distant parts of the Union without expense 
to the government. Hamilton, however, believed 
that one element was yet wanting to establish 
the national prosperity on sure grounds. While 
the practice of some countries had exclusive- 
ly favoured agriculture, others had directed their 
chief efforts to the encouragement of commerce ; 
and others, again, had thought that manufactures 



288 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

alone were entitled to national encouragement. 
Different European nations had adopted different 
systems of policy in relation to these three great 
sources of prosperity. Hamilton saw that the sage 
measures of which we have spoken in the prece- 
ding chapter had given an impulse to agriculture 
which could not be checked until the surplus for 
export should exceed the foreign demand; that 
commerce was in like manner in a state of prog- 
ress which would be limited only by the demands 
of the agriculturist. These, therefore, required no 
direct aid from the government. He also saw that 
the surplus agricultural products might be deprived 
of a market by the acts of foreign powers ; that 
the trade of the merchant would thus be deprived 
of its customers ; and that the prosperity of both 
might, in consequence, be impaired by circumstan- 
ces over which the government could have no con- 
trol. The agriculturist, however, was, in most 
parts of the United States, so far from a market, 
that he could derive none of the profit arising 
from the supply of cities or large communities 
■with perishable and bulky articles. The products 
of the dairy, the growth of the kitchen and fruit 
garden, and the innumerable small crops, were thus 
in a measure valueless, except in the immediate 
vicinity of the existing large towns. But he also 
saw that a community wholly agricultural must for 
ever be the tributary, or, in effect, the colony of 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 289 

that by which it is supphed with manufactured ar- 
ticles, and read in history the slow but sure decay 
in fertility which follows the export of all the ar-^ 
tides which the agricultural labourer cannot him- 
self consume. 

He inferred that independence on foreign coun- 
tries, and the perpetuation of the fertility and val-» 
ue even of farming land, were only to be attained 
by the creation of manufactures. The encourage- 
ment of these, he concluded, was an important 
and indispensable feature of the policy adapted to 
give the United States their proper standing in the 
world of civilization. 

Being again called upon by Congress for infor- 
mation, he presented a voluminous and convincing 
report, in which he recommends the encourage- 
ment of manufactures by every means within the 
legitimate authority of the government. In this 
report he assigns to agriculture, commerce, and 
manufactures their true relative value, in direct 
contradiction to the schemes of political economy, 
which had in turn elevated each of them above 
or decried it below its true co-ordinate rank in a 
national system. This report produced no imme- 
diate consequences, but may be advantageously 
consulted even at the present time. It points out 
the true system on which national greatness may 
be founded, by a just balance of the three great 
interests; it is consistent with that instinctive 
Bb 



290 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

sense which induces us to prefer the productions 
of our native country to those of foreign chmes ; 
and it has been successfully acted upon in all 
countries which have enjoyed a high degree of 
wealth and prosperity. 

Hamilton was, on all the subjects of finance and 
national policy, emphatically a practical man. 
His early associations with mercantile business 
had shown him the true nature of credit, and the 
prodigious effect of good faith in maintaining it; 
while he was aware of its sensitiveness, and the 
ease by which carelessness or want of punctuality 
could destroy it. He founded his plans of finance, 
of a bank, and for the encouragement of manufac- 
tures, not upon general and vague theories, but 
by means of sound induction from the experi- 
ence of other nations, on a careful examination of 
the legislative steps by which they had attained 
prosperity or destroyed their natural advantages. 
Political economy, to be applicable to any useful 
purpose, must be pursued as an inductive science ; 
it may otherwise set out from undeniable princi- 
ples — may proceed by steps of synthetic reason- 
ing, in which no flaw can be detected, and yet the 
results of the argument may be in absolute con- 
tradiction to facts. We may by this process explain 
the reasons of a particular course of events after 
they have occurred, but it is impossible to predict 
them. It is in vain to hope for greater certainty 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 291 

in political than can be reached in physical sci- 
ence ; and in the latter it is well known that the 
most accurate mathematical reasoning, fomided on 
principles absolutely true, may yet lead to erro- 
neous results, because all the circumstances can- 
not be taken into account. 

The last of Hamilton's great official reports 
was that on the establishment of a mint. This 
was adopted in most of its details, and its princi- 
ples governed the practice of that institution for 
upward of forty years. 

On the subjects of credit, of finance, of an ex- 
cise, and of a National Bank, the cabinet of 
Washington had been divided. Jefferson had 
appeared as the decided opponent of all the great 
measures proposed by Hamilton. A gradual es- 
trangement, and, finally, a cessation of friendly in- 
tercourse between them, had thus arisen. Wash- 
ington had applied himself assiduously to heal 
the breach, but unsuccessfully. The president re- 
posed perfect reliance on the integrity and hon- 
esty of purpose of both; and although he had been, 
in all the instances we have cited, convinced by 
the sound and irrefutable arguments of Hamilton, 
he appears to have determined to commit himself 
in no shape with a party which might be formed 
to sustain the opinions of either. The end of his 
first term of office was about to expire, and he 
longed to retire to private fife. This wish was 



292 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

combated by the members of his cabinet. Ham- 
ilton, Jefferson, and Randolph each addressed him 
letters expressive of their opinions on this subject; 
and, however various were their views and the 
reasons they alleged, concurred in urging him to 
serve for a second term. His consent to be con- 
sidered as a candidate was reluctantly given, and 
he was elected and again inaugurated. 

Up to this time little distinction of party existed, 
save that founded on the old difference between 
the friends and the opponents of the federal Con- 
stitution. The latter, beaten and discomfited, 
dropped their distinctive name and waited the 
course of events. The personal popularity of 
Washington, and the reverence in which he was 
held by the great body of the people, would have 
rendered any direct attempt to oppose his admin- 
istration fatal to those who made it. 

The debates on the funded system and excise, 
and more particularly the question of the consti- 
tutionality of a National Bank, led to a distinc- 
tion among political men which speedily caused 
the formation of two great factions, whose con- 
tests continued for more than twenty years. Ham- 
ilton became the leader of the federal party, 
which adopted his principles. It was original- 
ly composed of the friends of the new Constitu- 
tion, bat received great and powerful accessions 
from the mercantile interest, which found in his 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 293 

measures the source of a prosperity almost unex- 
ampled, and hardly expected by the most san- 
guine. The plan of funding the debt had been fol- 
lowed by the conversion of dead and useless certi- 
ficates into a readily saleable article, which, from 
its rapid rise, left a profit in the hands of each 
successive holder; the providing of a sufficient 
revenue to pay the interest, and finally to dis- 
charge the debt, caused a still greater rise in the 
funds ; and, lastly, the creation of the bank, 
w^hich converted a portion of the funded debt 
into an active capital accessible to the enterpri- 
sing and intelligent, stimulated every branch of in- 
dustry, and aroused the nation from a state of 
collapse to one of active and successful exertion. 
In the same party w^ere ranked the great body 
of the officers of the revolutionary army — the men 
w^ho had persevered to the end in the service of 
their country, and had, from motives of patriotism, 
undergone privations whence others less firm had 
shrunk. These saw in the success of the new gov- 
ernment the fruition of the objects for which they 
had fought, and rejoiced that their toil and blood 
had not been expended in vain. Even the labour- 
ing population of the great cities had not yet 
been taught to look on their mercantile employers 
with distrust and jealousy, or to consider that the 
capitalist and his workmen had dififerent interests ; 
and thus, for a time, the strong seats of the Fed- 
Bb2 



294 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

eral party were in New-York, Philadelphiaj and 
Boston. 

The accession of the mercantile interest aliena- 
ted from this party the strong and powerful body 
of Southern planters, who entertained a jealousy 
of their factors, which they concealed under the 
mask of contempt. The whole of the opponents 
of the Constitution united under the banner of 
Jefferson and Madison, from those who, like Ran- 
dolph, refused to sign it because it did not meet 
the demands of the great states, to those who were 
dissatisfied because the small states had lost their 
equality of representation in Congress. Finally, 
many, who, with Madison and R. L. Livingston 
at their head, had been disappointed in their hopes 
of personal consequence, swelled the ranks of the 
anti-federal party. 

Washington had resolved that he would not 
govern as the president of a faction, and knew his 
power of making the discordant materials of his 
cabinet work together for the general good. The 
new party, therefore, did not assume the form of 
an opposition to him, but charged the measures 
obnoxious to them upon the secretary of the treas- 
ury. Professing personal attachment to the presi- 
dent and confidence in his virtues, they notwith- 
standing arrayed themselves against measures to 
which he had given his hearty assent, on the 
plea that be had been deceived. The funded 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 295 

system, the excise, and the bank, were equally ob- 
noxious to them. It was urged that the debt had 
been unwarrantably increased in amount by the as- 
sumption of the state debts ; that the provision by 
which the debt would be redeemed within a stated 
time, and not before, was impolitic and injudicious, 
because it gave the debt a currency in foreign 
countries, and would lead, as was imagined, to an 
export of specie to pay the interest ; that the prof- 
it of the holders of the stock in the bank was ta- 
ken out of the pockets of the people; that all 
capital employed in banking operations was bar- 
ren and unproductive ; and that the Legislature 
was corrupted by this capital. 

Such were the allegations of Jefferson in a let- 
ter to Washington, in which he, notwithstanding, 
urges him to permit himself to be re-elected. 
They exhibit the grounds which he considered as 
tenable, and form the foundation of what he, even 
at this early period, calls the Republican doctrine. 
However well suited to popular feelings these 
propositions may appear, they were but coldly re- 
ceived ; with the people the Federalists still exert- 
ed the greatest influence, and in Congress their 
party was triumphant. 

The entrance of Washington upon his second 
term of office as president was followed by the 
intelligence that a war had broken out between 
England and France. This was the result of the 



296 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

French Revolution. The efforts of the people of 
that country to obtain a free government had ex- 
cited the sympathy of all the citizens of the United 
States, and it had been felt in no moderate degree 
by Hamilton, as well as by Washington himself. 
The revolution was, however, speedily sullied by 
sanguinary excesses, which awakened the jealous 
fears of the governments of Europe. These, in 
endeavouring to crush the revolution in its cradle, 
had excited a hostile spirit among the republicans ; 
and the early successes of their arms gave birth to 
the hopes of conquest, while they sought by all 
possible means to injure and ruin their enemies. 
The treaties which existed between France and 
the United States bound the latter to certain ob- 
ligations, which, if fulfilled according to the con- 
struction put upon them by the former, made them 
allies in the war. To a certain extent the claim 
was admitted, and money was freely advanced to 
aid in the attempt to quiet the troubles of St. Do- 
mingo. The new government of France, how- 
ever, seemed to have determined to compel the 
United States to become a party in the war, or to 
make such use of the ports and people of Ameri- 
ca as would be more injurious to England than 
actual hostility. Active preparations were soon 
known to be making to fit out privateers under 
the French flag in American ports, for the pur- 
pose of preying on British commerce. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 297 

In this state of things, the president submitted 
to his cabinet the questions : whether a proclama- 
tion of neutrahty ought not to be issued ? whether 
a minister from the I rench repubUc should be re- 
ceived ? whether his reception should be absolute 
or qualified ? and whether the guarantee in the 
treaty of alliance was binding under existing cir- 
cumstances 1 The cabinet decided unanimously 
that a proclamation, forbidding the citizens of the 
United States to take part with either belligerent, 
ought to be published, and that the minister from 
the French republic ought to be received. On 
the other points a diversity of opinion existed; 
Jefferson and Randolph saw no reason for express- 
ing any qualification in the reception of the ex- 
pected ambassador, while Hamilton and Knox 
were opposed to any direct recognition of the ex- 
isting government of France, which they did not 
think likely to be permanent, for fear of creating 
difficulties with other powers. The two latter 
concurred in opinion, that the guarantees in the 
treaty had reference only to a defensive war; 
while the former did not consider it necessary that 
an opinion should be expressed on this head. 

Washing-ton, on this occasion, was governed by 
the opinions of Jefferson and Randolph. The 
proclamation of neutrality was promulgated ; the 
ambassador was received on the same terms as 
the representative of the king had been ; and the 



298 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

provisions of the treaty were left to take the 
course of events. Hamilton's doubts of the sta- 
bility of the revolutionary government were justi- 
fied by the course which things took in France, 
where faction after faction succeeded to power; 
but, on the other hand, the forms of a republic 
were maintained until Napoleon grasped the reins 
of empire. We may also express the belief, that 
a declaration that the war then waging by France 
was offensive, and, in consequence, not provided 
for by the treaty, would have been a more open 
and manly course than that which was pursued. 

Hardly had the proclamation of neutrality been 
issued, than the expected ambassador from France 
landed at Charleston, S. C. This minister was 
the famous Genet. Immediately after his arrival, 
he issued commissions to privateers, which were 
fitted out and speedily returned with prizes. His 
journey from Charleston to Philadelphia was al- 
most a triumph, and he received everywhere such 
marks of attention as impressed him with the idea 
that the great body of the people was ready to 
make common cause with France. On consulta- 
tion with his cabinet, Washington issued a decla- 
ration that the fitting out of privateers was a vio- 
lation of neutrality which the government was 
bound to prevent. A communication was also 
made to the French minister, informing him that 
it was expected that he would cause restitution 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 299 

to be made of all prizes brought into American 
ports by vessels fitted out within them, otherwise 
the United States would consider themselves bound 
to indemnify the owners, and call on France to re- 
imburse the indemnity. 

Active steps were then taken to prevent the 
sailing of privateers ; and in at least one instance, 
a prize was taken possession of and restored to 
her crew. 

Genet was deeply dissatisfied with these meas- 
ures, and threatened to appeal from the president 
to the people. Roused by this insult, Washing- 
ton, by the advice of his cabinet, demanded from 
the French government the recall of Genet. 

On all these points the cabinet was unanimous ; 
and although it is apparent that Hamilton was the 
main supporter of the president in these measures, 
Jefferson and Randolph concurred, and signed the 
opinions. The sincerity of the last two has been 
questioned ; it is at all events certain, that the 
opinions of these gentlemen did not continue con- 
sistent with the declarations issued by the gov- 
ernment. Randolph was ere long charged w^th 
entertaining relations with the French minister in- 
compatible with his position in the cabinet. To 
this charge he made no defence, but forthwith re- 
signed his office. Jefferson was speedily intimate- 
ly leagued with those who had espoused the cause 
of France. 



300 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Genet, with a view of realizing his threat of 
an appeal to the people, proceeded to organize 
Democratic societies. These were modelled on 
the Jacobin clubs of Paris, and were by far the 
most efficient engines for party discipline that had 
been yet seen. These societies not only borrowed 
their organization from France, but adopted the 
terms of reproach which had been so efficient in 
the reign of terror. All who opposed their plans 
were stigmatized as aristocrats; and it is more 
than probable that the federal party w^as made 
odious by its being w^ilfully confounded with the 
obnoxious French faction which bore the same 
name. 

In this crisis Hamilton was true to his country 
and his illustrious chief. The proclamation of 
neutrality, and the acts which grew out of it, were 
ably defended by him in a series of papers bear- 
ing the signature of Pacificus. A strong revul- 
sion was effected by them in popular feeling, and 
the administration finally received the support of 
a decided majority of the nation. At first, indeed, 
it could reckon on no more than a minority of the 
House of Representatives, while the Senate was 
equally divided. This state of parties was exhib- 
ited when the treaty made by Jay with Great 
Britain was promulgated. The proceedings in ref- 
erence to his mission, and the treaty which he 
formed, are foreign to our present subject. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 301 



CHAPTER Xn. 

Armed 7^esistance to the Excise Law. — Hainil- 
ton resigns the Office of Secretary of the 
Treasury^ and resumes the practice of Law. — 
His brilliant Success. — His Disinterestedness 
as a Politician.^Continued Aggressions of 
France, and her Refusal to grant Redress. — • 
Excitement of Popular Feeling. — The Pro- 
visional Army is voted by Congress. — Hamil' 
ton is named Inspector-general. — His Servi' 
ces in that Capacity, 

The excise was not only warmly opposed in 
Congress, but the operation of it was met by a 
determined spirit of resistance. This was at first 
manifested in an evasion of the law ; next by 
threats and insults to the revenue officers ; finally, 
when indictments were found against the delin- 
quents, the serving of the process was resisted by 
an armed force. This last act of outrage was as- 
cribed by Washington, and with every appearance 
of probability, to the influence of the Democratic 
societies. To put down this insurrection, the mi- 
litia of the states of Virginia, Maryland, and New- 
Jersey was called out, after a proclamation had 
been issued requiring the insurgents to disperse. 
Cc 



302 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

This force was accompanied by the president him- 
self nearly to the scene of action, and Hamilton, 
who had been the companion of his journey, pro 
ceeded with the troops as far as Pittsburg. He 
may, in fact, be considered as the actual leader of 
the patriotic body by whose bloodless services the 
only direct resistance that has ever been offered to 
the laws of the United States was put down. 

This occasion afforded an experiment by which 
the stability and energy of the federal govern- 
ment could be tested, and the result was satisfac- 
tory. 

Hamilton had for some time been anxious to re- 
tire from the cares of office to private life. He 
now saw that he could do so without detriment to 
the public service. He therefore tendered his res- 
ignation to the president, which, after some delay, 
was accepted. His continuance in office was de- 
sired until he should close his previous labours by 
the plan of a sinking fund. This was recommend- 
ed by Washington in his annual message, and the 
means for establishing it were planned by Hamil- 
ton. His report on this subject was his last act as 
a member of the cabinet. 

Hamilton, after resigning the office of secretary 
of the treasury, returned to New- York and re- 
commenced the practice of the law. In those days 
of official purity, it was not yet imagined that 
the possession of a public trust could ever be made 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 303 

a source of fortune, either directly or indirectly. 
The salaries were fixed at the lowest hmit believed 
to be ^compatible with the decent support of the 
incumbent; and an attempt to save what was 
granted for public purposes would have been visit- 
ed by contempt. Speculations growing out of the 
opportunity for information possessed by the de- 
partments would have been reckoned criminal, if 
not within the strict letter of the laws, at least in 
the eye of the community. Hamilton, however, 
never seems to have imagined the possibility of 
acquiring wealth in the latter way. Had this been 
his object, he had opportunities such as no other 
public man has ever possessed. The debt of the 
government rose under his administration from a 
value almost nominal to more than par, while the 
rise on the subscription price of the stock of the 
bank was such as to create many large fortunes. 
His opponents were so sensible of the advantages 
of his position, that they saw that nothing but vir- 
tue of transcendant character could preserve him 
from the temptations to which he was exposed; 
and judging of him from the scale of ordinary 
men, boldly, and upon very trifling grounds, char- 
ged him with collusion in stock speculations. On 
this occasion Hamilton valued his character as a 
public servant beyond his domestic peace; and, 
rather than leave any imputation on his official pu- 
rity, exposed frailties which he was not suspected 



304 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of. The temporary aberration of passion which 
was thus laid open may lower the opinion which 
we might otherwise entertain of the absolute spot- 
lessness of his moral character, but his avowal 
serves to enhance our estimate of his delicate 
sense of official purity. 

Hamilton, therefore, retired from his station 
as secretary of the treasury, after nearly twenty 
years of public service, with less of wealth than 
he had entered it; and the necessity for provi- 
ding a support for his family was his strongest 
reason for resigning. His hopes of success at the 
bar were fully realized. He at once placed him- 
self first among the many distinguished barristers 
which the courts of New- York then counted, and 
was speedily in the receipt of the largest income 
which a professional man has ever acquired among 
us. In this capacity he has left a reputation for 
depth of knowledge, soundness of argument, brill- 
iancy of eloquence, and splendour of illustration, 
which is as yet unrivalled. It would be impossi- 
ble, indeed, to convey in words any idea of his 
grace of manner and elegance of diction. In this 
he shares the fate of all orators ; but, while oth- 
ers have taken care to record their more brilliant 
efforts, few of his speeches have been preserved. 

His reputation as an orator was no doubt due, 
not only to his physical advantages and the vast 
range of his intellect, but to the earnestness with 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 305 

which he entered into his subject. Each speech 
was therefore adapted to the circumstances under 
which it was dehvered, and derived its greatest 
charm from its suitableness to the occasion. The 
direct object having been obtained, it never 
seems to have occurred to him that posterity could 
take an interest in the evanescent topic, and he 
took no precautions for the preservation of speci- 
mens of his eloquence. 

While thus engaged in the industrious practice 
of his profession, he calmly permitted the most 
tempting objects of ambition to pass him. The 
administration of Washington was drawing to a 
close, and he had determined not to serve a third 
time. The two great parties had been fully de- 
veloped, and Jefferson had been placed at the 
head of that which, after passing through the 
phases of Anti-federal and Democratic, had assu- 
med the style of Republican. The Federal party 
had, in point of fact, been formed to support prin- 
ciples, of which Hamilton was the author or the 
most efficient supporter. Its practice consisted in 
the funding of the debt, with the creation of a 
sufficient revenue to meet the interest and redeem 
it ; in maintaining the Constitutional right of the 
government to charter a bank ; in observing the 
strictest neutrality between the belligerent pow- 
ers of Europe, and being at the same time prepa- 
red to resist or retaliate the aggressions of either. 
Cc2 



306 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

It is easy to see that, had Hamilton been actu- 
ated by personal ambition, he might have made 
himself the candidate of this powerful and influ- 
ential party. His writings, acts, and views of the 
Constitution were adopted by it; and, although 
willing to serve in a private capacity, he was its 
acknowledged leader, and held in its estimation a 
rank second to Washington alone. He, however, 
took no steps to avail himself of his standing with 
this party, and rather avoided than courted popu- 
lar applause. 

At this juncture he received a new proof of the 
confidence of Washington in his honesty and abil- 
ity. That great man, on quitting office, had deter- 
mined to leave behind him as a legacy the decla- 
ration of his principles of action, to serve as an 
example to his successors. With this he proposed 
to combine the advice he conceived most likely to 
maintain the stability and usefulness of the federal 
government. Here was an extra-official act, in 
which his cabinet had no concern ; and yet, with 
his characteristic prudence, he was unwilling to 
trust to his own unassisted exertions for the prep- 
aration of so important a paper. He chose as 
his advisers on this occasion Jay and Hamilton ; 
and while the great features of this almost super- 
human production are unquestionably his own, he 
adopted their suggestions almost implicitly. So 
decided is the evidence of Hamilton's style in this 



ALEXANDER HAMIL.TON. 307 

document, that those have not been wanting who 
have ascribed it solely to him, forgetting the air 
of majestic grandeur which breathes in every line, 
and which no other mind, however familiar with 
the inmost thoughts of Washington, could have 
assumed. 

Examples of the perfect union of the mind of 
one great man with the style of another are not 
wanting in other instances. Pictures are yet to be 
seen which bear the autograph of Rubens, while 
the practised connoisseur can trace in them the 
evident marks of the hand of his pupil Van Dyck. 
The pictures, in grandeur of design, are worthy of 
the former; in deUcacy of taste and feeling of 
beauty, of the latter ; while the union presents a 
whole superior to the separate productions of ei- 
ther. So of the farewell address : its conception 
could only have arisen in the mind of Washing- 
ton himself, yet it would have been less perfect as 
a composition had it not passed through the hands 
of Hamilton ; and even their united efforts might 
not have exhibited the high and delicate finish 
afforded by the classical pen of Jay. 

The administration of Adams, which succeeded 
that of Washington, professed to follow in the 
path the latter had pointed out. The heads of 
departments who had succeeded Hamilton and 
his colleagues were retained in office, and all the 
great features of national policy remained for a 



308 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY* 

time unaltered. Adams, however, speedily be- 
came unpopular. The fact that he had been the 
apparent opponent of Washington in the election 
for president, which was necessary, in the original 
form of the Constitution, to make him vice-presi- 
dent ; and the large majority by which he was 
chosen as the successor, seem to have given him 
an overweening estimate of his personal impor- 
tance. Beginning his political career by profes- 
sions of implicit obedience to the popular will, he 
underwent, when he obtained power, the transfor- 
mation almost certain to demagogues, from supple 
subserviency to arbitrary exertion of authority. 
Familiar with the etiquette of the courts of Eu- 
rope, he felt inclined to mimic the state and seclu- 
sion of monarchs. The reserve and distance of 
manner, natural and dignified in Washington, 
might awe, but they never excited resentment. 
Manners of the same description, ingrafted unnat^ 
urally on the less imposing person of Adams, ex- 
cited derision in some, and roused the anger ot 
others. The sterling honesty of his purposes was 
no compensation for the faults of his manner. 
Advantage was taken by the opposition of the 
defects of his character, and the popularity of his 
administration speedily declined. 

The aggressions of Great Britain on our com- 
merce had been in a great measure checked by 
the treaty of Jay. A feeling of cordiality had 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 309 

arisen between the two governments, which their 
mutual interest in commerce might have extend- 
ed throughout both countries. England was the 
best market for many of the products of the Uni- 
ted States ; the latter the largest customer for the 
manufactures of Great Britain. The folly of the 
administration of England, and the arrogance of 
her naval commanders, alone prevented a good 
and cordial understanding between the two na- 
tions. 

France, on the other hand, not only continued 
her pillage of the commerce of the United States, 
but exhibited resentment in other ways at the 
steady adherence of the latter to a strict neutral- 
ity. The hst of wrongs and injuries had swell- 
ed to a fearful amount. In this state of the case, 
it was resolved by Adams to follow, in relation 
to France, the method adopted by Washington 
towards England in the mission of Jay. Com- 
missioners were therefore despatched to Paris, 
bearing the ultimatum, as it purported to be, of 
the United States. These were received almost 
with insult ; and, as a preliminary to any negotia- 
tion, money was demanded. To this the memora- 
ble answer was given, "Millions for defence: 
not a cent for tribute !" 

The Directory was probably incited to this ar- 
rogant course by the belief that a large and pow- 
erful party in the United States would not sustain 



310 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the government in a war with France. The op- 
position to Jay's treaty had assumed the form of a 
French party, while the old wounds of the Revo- 
lutionary war were yet unhealed, and festered 
with resentment against Great Britain. That 
there were party leaders who, in the ardour of 
their political strife, had lost sight of national and 
patriotic feelings, and were, from opposite views, 
partisans of either belligerent, cannot be doubted; 
but the body of the people was sound in its at- 
tachment to its own soil and institutions. 

No sooner had the treatment of the envoys be- 
come known, than a spontaneous burst of popular 
feeling arose. Congress passed a law authorizing 
the enlistment of an army of ten thousand men, 
and made provision for the increase of the navy. 
The cruisers were authorized to capture and bring 
into port all French armed vessels found hovering 
on the coasts. The capture of one French frigate, 
and the defeat of another, gave an earnest of that 
glory which has since encompassed the navy, and 
exalted it in popular opinion. The flower of the 
youth of the country either sought commissions in 
the army, or enrolled themselves in volunteer 
corps, without reference to the former distinctions 
of party. 

All eyes were now directed to Washington as 
the only person worthy of commanding the new 
army ; and Hamilton, in anticipation of the unfa-, 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 311 

voui'able result of the negotiations with France, had 
written to tell him that it was the general opinion 
that he must again sacrifice his priA^ate interests 
to the public good. That his services would be 
demanded was also intimated to him by the pres- 
ident ; but the latter, with singular bad taste, had 
nominated him to the Senate as commander-in- 
chief before the reply was received. Washing- 
ton accepted the appointment without hesitation, 
however ungracious the manner, but stipulated 
that he should have the selection of the general 
officers. The law had provided for two major- 
generals, and an inspector-general of that same 
rank. For the two former offices Washington 
named Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and General 
Knox ; for the latter he proposed Hamilton ; but 
he placed him first on the hst, with the intention 
of giving him seniority of rank, and of making 
him his substitute unless the army should actually 
take the field, as well as his eventual successor. 

Washington subsequently explained why he 
thus preferred Hamilton to be the first under him. 
The reasons were, his general ability and high 
military talent, which placed him in advance of 
any revolutionary officer whose age would per- 
mit him to serve ; his standing as a statesman and 
politician, which was second to none ; and, finally, 
that the country had no right to ask him to quit a 
lucrative profession for an office whose pay would 



312 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

be swallowed up in the necessary expenditures, 
without an equivalent at least in rank and hon- 
our. 

The president appeared at first to acquiesce, 
and named the three officers to the Senate on the 
same day, and in the order set down by Wash- 
ington. A question of relative rank was speedily 
raised, and the president gave it as his opinion, 
that, bearing commissions of even date for identi- 
cal rank, their relative standing was to be gov- 
erned by their ancient precedence in the revolu- 
tionary army. By this decision the order proposed 
by Washington would have been inverted ; Ham- 
ilton being last, and Knox first in seniority. 

Hamilton was not left the option of accepting 
or dechning to serve under this decision. Wash- 
ington himself, without being requested, or any 
complaint from Hamilton being heard, interfered 
and insisted that his original intention should be 
complied with. To this the president consented, 
but with obvious reluctance, while Knox refused 
to accept the commission tendered to him unless 
he should take precedence both of Hamilton and 
Pinckney. Pinckney exhibited a more generous 
spirit. He at once acquiesced in the superior 
claims of Hamilton, and said he would have also 
offered to waive his priority to Knox and to serve 
under him, had he not been made aware, on his 
return from France, that Knox had positively de- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 313 

raanded to be considered as the senior major-gen- 
eral. 

The administration at first appeared to be in 
earnest in the formation of the army. Washing- 
ton was desired to consider himself in actual ser- 
vice; and a board, composed of himself, Pinckney, 
and Hamilton, was convened at Trenton, for the 
purpose of forming a plan of organization, and 
selecting officers from the numerous applicants. 
The plan for the organization of the army was 
due to Hamilton, and showed how closely he 
had watched the improvements in military tactics 
which had been developed during the war of the 
French Revolution. It is not to be considered as 
one which would be received at the present day 
as the best, but was so far consistent with the 
progress of military knowledge that it was adopt- 
ed almost implicitly, after a lapse of fourteen years, 
in the organization of the army raised to act in 
the war against Great Britain. 

The board completed a list of oflScers, which 
was communicated to the president ; and the pre- 
liminary steps having been thus taken, it w^as to 
have been expected that the enlistment of sol- 
diers would be permitted to proceed without de- 
lay. But the president appeared on a sudden to 
grow cool in the cause. He must have easily 
seen that the greater part of his cabinet enter- 
tained a higher respect for the opinions of the 
Dd 



314 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

commander-in-chief than for his own. Hence ap- 
pears to have arisen a jealousy of power, while 
Hamilton appeared to be the favom^ite of the very 
party to which he owed his own elevation to of- 
fice. Instead of accepting this discovery as a 
proof of Hamilton's forbearance and moderation 
towards him, he seems to have looked upon him 
as a dangerous rival. Retiring from the seat of 
government, he, in a letter to the secretary of 
state, charged that the advancement of Hamilton 
to the high military rank which had been accord- 
ed him was the fruit of an intrigue. 

In the mean time, Hamilton was assiduously 
engaged in the formation of the provisional army, 
of which the whole labour of command devolved 
on him, by the conditions on which Washington 
had accepted his commission. The delays which 
arose from inefficiency in the war department, 
and the growing coolness of the president, made 
this an ungrateful task. 

It was, however, to all appearance a necessary 
one. The naval power of France had not yet re- 
ceived its first great check from Nelson at Abou- 
kir, and, united to the fleets of Spain and Hoi* 
land, might, in all human probability, be again 
supreme even in the Narrow Seas. St. Domingo 
still constituted an integral part of the one and in- 
divisible republic, and in it 40,000 black troops, 
commanded by officers of experience, stood ready 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 315 

to invade and excite a servile war in the Southern 
states. Serious and well-grounded apprehensions 
were entertained, that the aggressions of France 
were not so much directed by the individual cu- 
pidity of her privateersraen, as by the studied de- 
termination to extend her disorganizing principles 
to the Continent. 

Engrossed in these warlike cares, and purposely 
excluded from the civil councils of the administra- 
tion, Hamilton was not responsible for the errors 
of judgment which deprived Adams of the confi- 
dence of the federal party, and undermined its 
well-founded strength. 



316 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER Xm. 

Causes of the decline of the Federal Party. — 
Origin of the enmity of Burr against Ham- 
ilton. — Settlement of the Differences with 
France. — The Provisional Army is disband- 
ed, and Hamilton resumes the Profession of 
Law. — He loses his eldest Son in a Duel. — 
Burr appears as a candidate for the office 
of Governor, and is prevented by Hamilton 
from receiving the support of the Federal 
Party. 

In spite of the strong popular feeling excited 
by the aggressions of France and the insolence 
of her government, a formidable party remained, 
which openly attempted to palliate her conduct, 
and covertly desired a French alliance. This par- 
ty took measures, through a sure agent, to commu- 
nicate to influential persons in France, that the be- 
lief in the existence of such a feeling in the peo- 
ple of the United States as would forbid a war 
w^as unfounded ; that all hope of an alliance be- 
tween the two countries would be at an end unless 
there were a total change of measures. 

In the mean time, the administration, with a 
vacillating policy, decided on the appointment of 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 317 

a new commission to proceed to France, to renew 
a negotiation which seemed ah-eady to have fail- 
ed. It appears that it was not the intention of the 
cabinet that this commission should depart until 
some assurance were given that it would be fa- 
vourably received. The president, as we have 
seen, had manifested a jealousy of the paramount 
influence of Washington, and appears to have se- 
cretly feared Hamilton as a rival. At all events, 
he seems to have ceased to take the advice of 
those best qualified to give it, and even omitted 
the usual ceremony of consulting his cabinet. 
The commissioners for treating with France were 
suddenly and unexpectedly ordered by him to pro- 
ceed on their mission. This important step was 
taken without the knowledge of any of the heads 
of departments except the secretary of the navy, 
through whom orders for a frigate to convey them 
were transmitted. 

This measure, by sanctioning the opinion that 
the danger was not pressing, nor the insults of 
France such as could not be submitted to, put 
an instant period to popular enthusiasm. Those 
who had failed in obtaining commissions in *the 
army were not more dissatisfied than those who 
had received appointments, and both were in a 
fit state of mind to be acted upon by those wish- 
ing to convert them into opponents to the adminis- 
tration. Other active young men who had en- 
Dd2 



318 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

rolled themselves in volunteer corps, laid aside 
their arms with anger and disappointment. On 
these classes Burr commenced a system of seduc- 
tive wiles well calculated to entrap the unwary. 
Many of those who had been most anxious for 
a war with France, and some who had received 
the black cockade from the hands of Mrs. Adams 
herself, became the personal adherents of Burr, 
and finally gave their votes to the Republican 
party. The history of the corruption which Cat- 
iline exercised on the Roman youth was renewed 
in the United States. 

Burr directed his wonderful powers of address 
to another quarter, and, exciting the jealousy of 
the poorer classes, effected a revolution in the pol- 
itics of the City of New-York, which had hitherto 
"been a stronghold of the Federal party. 

His exertions to bring this about were fostered 
by the imprudence of the leading Federalists. 
The continual victories which had been gained 
by their party from the time the Convention 
which framed the Constitution assembled, caused 
them to forget the absolute dependance of our 
politicians on popular favour. They held them- 
selves aloof from the mass of the people, and thus 
gave force to the charge of aristocratic feeling 
which was urged against them. This charge was 
reiterated until it was believed by many, and 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 319 

alienated the yeomanry of the country from the 
administration. 

The warhke preparations required more money 
than the revenue from imports was capable of 
furnishing. Hence resort was had to direct tax- 
es ; and these, which would have been cheerfully 
borne had the public good required their imposi- 
tion in actual war, were a source of general dis- 
content now that no such state of things appear- 
ed probable. Among these taxes was that of 
stamps, which was adroitly coupled with the sim- 
ilar measure that, when enacted by the British 
Parliament, had operated as one of the prominent 
causes of the revolutionary struggle. 

Finally, two laws were passed repugnant to 
the feelings of the people ; the one imposing pen- 
alties on political writers, and creating the crime 
of sedition ; the other placing the personal liberty 
of emigrants at the disposal of the executive. By 
these acts many of those who had swelled the 
Federal majorities became alienated, and, if they 
did not join their strength to the Republican par- 
ty, withdrew their support from the administration. 

We might have ranked among the prominent 
causes of the decline of the strength of the Federal 
party the death of Washington himself. We 
have seen that he had with such prudence held 
the balance between the members of his cabinet, 
that, while he in general adopted the views ^ 



320 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Hamilton, he gave Jefferson no just cause of of- 
fence. The opposition during his administration 
did not become a personal one, but was directed 
against his advisers. It, in fact, was almost im- 
possible for party malevolence to impeach his mo- 
tives, and the arguments of the opposition did lit- 
tle to destroy the general belief in his wisdom. 
More than all, he was regarded by all classes with 
strong feelings of personal attachment, and with 
the most profound admiration. The course of 
the leaders of the Republican party, by which his 
name was kept out of view, was therefore as much 
dictated by policy as by principle. Some of the 
underlings of a factious press, however, did not 
hesitate to attack him, but the aggression reacted 
upon the party they supported. He had by no 
public act, save the acceptance of the command of 
the army, given his support to the administration of 
Adams; but the time seems to have been at hand 
when he would have felt it his duty to his country 
to declare himself openly against the Democratic 
party; while his dissatisfaction with the policy 
of Adams was such, that it appears possible that 
he might have been induced to stand again as a 
candidate for the presidency. He was still in the 
full vigour of his faculties, and little impaired in 
personal activity ; and his convictions of the dan- 
ger to which the country was exposed from the 
prevalence ^f the principles of the French Revo- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 321 

lutionists were such, that it is not improbable that 
he might again have left his beloved retii-ement, 
could he have been satisfied that by so doing he 
would have again become the ruler of a nation, 
not the head of a party. 

The consmnmate prudence and political tact of 
Jefferson prevented the forebodings of Washington 
from being realized. The funded debt was not 
meddled with; the National Bank was not only 
left undisturbed, but continued as the fiscal agent 
of the government ; an alliance with France was 
cautiously shunned, even after the insults of Great 
Britain and the violation of our territory afforded 
good and popular grounds of war; the provisional 
army had, as we have seen, been disbanded before 
the close of the administration of Adams ; but an 
establishment of the full extent of that which was 
on foot at the close of Washington's second term 
of office was maintained. Jefferson even studious- 
ly avoided the exercise of his constitutional pow- 
ers of removal from office for the mere purpose of 
rewarding his political adherents. With the ex- 
ception of a reduction of the naval establishment, 
and the abolition of a useless branch of the judi- 
ciary, it might have appeared as if nothing had 
occurred but a change in the person of the chief 
magistrate. 

Such was the number of seceders from the Fed- 
eral party after the death of Washington, that 



322 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

their opponents resolved to adopt the bold policy 
of running two candidates in order to secure the 
election of a vice-president, and thus, although a 
choice by the electoral colleges vv^as not effected, 
the two candidates of the Democratic party were 
brought before the House of Representatives wdth 
claims apparently equal. In the vote of this body 
by states, it soon appeared that the Federal mem- 
bers had it in their power to determine which of 
the two, Jefferson or Burr, should be president. 
Many violent Federal partisans were inclined to 
throw a brand of discord into the Republican 
party, b)'' conferring the dignity on Burr ; and he 
is accused of intriguing Avith them for the pur- 
pose. The charge has recently been retorted on 
Jefferson. It seems probable that Hamilton, whom 
the death of Washington had placed in the first 
rank of the Federal party, interfered to prevent 
the votes of his friends being cast for Burr. For 
Jefferson he had no affection, nor did he believe 
in the honesty of his views ; but he knew^ that he 
would at least be governed by the prescribed 
forms of legislation, and that the alterations which 
his advent might cause in the policy of the gov- 
ernment would be in conformity with the letter 
of the Constitution, and directed by the sanctions 
of legal enactment. 

Burr, in consequence, appears to have ascribed 
the disappointment he felt, but did not venture 



ALEXANDER. HAMILTON. 323 

openly to avow, to Hamilton. He had, at the be- 
ginning of the Revolution, been excluded from the 
military family of Washington on account of his 
open profligacy, and he had seen Hamilton occu- 
pying the station to which he had aspired. Pro- 
fessional rivalry had existed between them at the 
New-York bar, and while, in point of mere talent, 
they ranked as equals, Burr saw that the universal- 
ly admitted purity of Hamilton's character gave 
him an ascendancy against which it was vain to 
strive. All these causes united excited in the 
breast of Burr a vindictive spirit, the more furious 
in consequence of the necessity of repressing it. 

The commissioners who were sent to France 
found there a new state of things. Bonaparte 
had returned from Egypt, and had effected a rev- 
olution in the government. Personal interests no 
longer interfered, and money was not, as before, 
demanded. The American commissioners appear- 
ed rather as suppliants for peace than as claimants 
for satisfaction. The terms which they accepted 
were therefore far from favourable. No security 
was obtained against future aggressions, no indem- 
nity for former outrages. A release was, howev- 
er, procured from the implied obligations of the 
treaty of alliance, by which the possessions of the 
French in the West Indies were guarantied. Had 
the obligation to this condition been insuperable, 
the relinquishment of it would have been cheaply 



324 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

purchased by giving up the claim for spoliations ; 
but this would have only been justified by the 
American government assuming the indemnity of 
its citizens. This point was left vague in the trea- 
ty, and thus the heavy losses incurred by the mer- 
cantile community from the cruisers and privateers 
of France have never yet been compensated. To 
complete the measure of humiliation, the prizes 
taken by the American navy were restored, the 
proud trophies of victory relinquished. 

It is not surprising, then, that within a few 
years Napoleon should have treated the United 
States as a vassal nation, bound to aid him in his 
schemes of ambition ; and that England, seeing the 
Sacrifices, both of interest and honour, which were 
made to France for the sake of peace, should have 
presumed to renew the insults which the treaty of 
Jay had for a time interrupted. 

The treaty with France was received by the 
Republican party as a triumph. They forgot their 
country in the pride of victory over their political 
opponents, and the predilection for a French alli- 
ance became a strong and settled principle of ac- 
tion. On the other hand, the mercantile interest, 
powerful from its wealth, intelligence, and activi- 
ty, contrasting the readiness with which England 
had accorded indemnity in the treaty of Jay with 
the refusal of all compensation by France, became 
the partisans of the former country ; and thus two 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 325 

antagonist principles were brought into action, by 
which it was attempted to regulate the policy of 
the United States, not on broad feelings of nation- 
al honour, but in reference to the hostilities and 
interests of the two great European rivals. 

The settlement with France rendered the pro- 
visional army unnecessary, and it was, in conse- 
quence, disbanded. Hamilton was thus released 
from his military duties, and returned to his pro- 
fessional pursuits. In this he was again success- 
ful, and speedily resumed his high standing at the 
bar and the receipt of a large income. 

The violence of party politics was far from be- 
ing abated by the election of Jefferson, and Ham- 
ilton was looked to from all quarters as the leader 
of the opposition. He gave to its cause the aid 
of his powerful pen, and restored the unity of the 
Federal party, which had been impaired by the 
impolitic acts of Adams. The administration party 
retorted by attacks upon his political character, 
and the principles of government w^hich they ac- 
cused him and his party of maintaining. 

The excitement was such that the younger 
members of either party could not be restrained 
to the weapons of argument, but sought each oth- 
er's blood. The eldest son of Hamilton, who had 
just reached man's estate, was one of the first vic- 
tims of this spirit. Excited by the attacks which 
were continually uttered against the principles of 
Ee 



326 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

his father, he singled out and insulted the author 
of a public address, in which the language of the 
party, ascribing a desire of monarchical govern- 
ment and the establishment of an aristocracy to 
the Federahsts, had been adopted with the rash- 
ness of youth and the ardour of conviction. A 
hostile meeting at Hoboken was the consequence, 
in which Philip Hamilton fell. The surviver of 
the duel, who appears to have been unwillingly 
forced by his political friends into a course which 
his conscience reprobated, was even more to be 
pitied than his victim ; for, in spite of the support 
of his partisans, and the applause they lavished on 
his courage, he sunk to the grave before the lapse 
of many months, a prey to feelings of remorse. It 
is unnecessary to say how severe was this affliction 
to one of Hamilton's sensibilities. The loss of a 
child is in all cases one of the severest trials to 
which our race is subjected, and the suffering was 
in this case aggravated by the cause and the 
manner of the infliction. 

Burr, in the mean time, did not cease from his 
intrigues. Drawing a body of young men from 
the Democratic party, with many of those who 
had been disgusted with the vacillating pohcy of 
Adams, he led a devoted band, remarkable for its 
talent and activity. By the aid of these he form- 
ed a division in the Republican ranks, and obtain- 
ed a nomination for the ofhce of governor of the 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 327 

state. For his success in this election his hopes 
were mainly founded upon the support of the 
Federalists, who, he believed, would support him 
merely for the purpose of overwhelming their po- 
litical opponents. Many Federalists fell into the 
snare, and there was at one time a probability 
that they would unite as a party in his support, 
and thus ensure his success. 

Hamilton was decidedly opposed to the support 
of Burr by his political friends, and endeavoured 
to prevent it by all the means in his power. To 
accomplish this object, he did not hesitate to rep- 
resent that ambitious man as dangerous, and unfit 
to be trusted A\dth power. He believed him to be 
governed in politics by no other motives than 
those of personal aggrandizement, and in his pri- 
vate life to be wanting in all perception of either 
religious or moral obligation. The universal as- 
sent of the American people has proved the accu- 
racy of Hamilton's estimate of the character of 
Burr ; and the publication of his papers, although 
sifted by friendly hands, gives undoubted evidence 
that the judgment of the community was correct. 

At this time, however, Burr stood on a position 
of lofty eminence. He filled the second office in 
dignity within the gift of the people ; to all ap- 
pearance, he had not yet lost the confidence of a 
victorious party; and he was surrounded by a 
phalanx of talent and devoted friends, such as no 



328 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

other aspirant for popular honours has ever as- 
sembled. 

In his opposition to Burr Hamilton showed how 
far he was superior to personal feeling. The con- 
test for the presidency had lain between Burr and 
Jefferson, and we have seen how broad had become 
the difference in Washington's cabinet between 
him and the latter. The breach had finally been 
widened to a degree which precluded all personal 
intercourse, and even the earnest endeavours of 
Washington himself had been insufficient to effect 
a reconciliation. Jefferson had both publicly and 
privately attacked the principles' and motives of 
Hamilton, in addition to a decided opposition to 
all his favourite measures, while of Burr he could 
only complain that he had been his political ad- 
versary. But he believed that in Jefferson's 
hands the liberties of the country were safe, while 
he feared that the ambition of Burr would not be 
satisfied with the powers accorded by the Consti- 
tution. Had he made common cause with Burr 
against Jefferson and his partisans in New-York, 
he might have hoped for the creation of a new 
party, in which he himself must have taken the 
second rank, and which would in all probabihty 
have been powerful enough to limit Jefferson's te- 
nure of office to a single term ; nay, it even seems 
probable that, had Hamilton been willing to barter 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 329 

his influence with his party, he might have secur- 
ed the first place in a coalition. 

Hamilton's course on this occasion offers a 
marked contrast to that of almost all other poli- 
ticians. The dissatisfied members of a victorious 
party have in all other instances been received with 
open arms by the defeated faction, and e^^en those 
who have abandoned the losing side have in many 
instances been placed in the front of the party 
to which they have revolted. In no particular, 
therefore, is the purity of Hamilton's motives more 
apparent than on this occasion. 

The result of Hamilton's remonstrances was to 
withdraw from Burr a large part of the support 
on which he had relied, and the election of 1804 
terminated, after a severe and, for a time, doubtful 
contest, in favour of his opponent, General Lewis. 
Ee2 



330 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Burr demands an Explanation from Hamilton. — 
Correspondence between them. — A Duel is the 
result. — Examination of Hamilton's motives 
in consenting to it. — He is mortally wounded 
and dies. — His public Character and Views 
of Government. 

In the open and decided opposition which Ham- 
ilton had manifested to the election of Burr as 
governor of New-York, the latter saw an opening 
for satisfying his vindictive feelings. His ambi- 
tious projects were all blasted -, for he had, by per- 
mitting himself to be held up as a candidate, lost 
all claim on the Republican party, while by the 
Federalists he was repudiated. His pecuniary 
fortunes were in as dilapidated a condition as his 
political, and he was, in fact, in that state of des- 
peration in which the exposure of his own life 
would be no obstacle to a desire of vengeance. 

Hamilton, on the other hand, was a fit subject 
for his designs. Proud of his character as a sol- 
dier, it was almost certain that he would not re- 
fuse a hostile meeting if called for on any reason- 
able grounds ; while it was possible that, with a 
solemn sense of religious obligation, he might at- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 331 

tempt to satisfy the point of honour by the expo- 
sure of his own hfe, without attempting that of 
his adversary. Evidence exists which proves sat- 
isfactorily that, when his friends began to fear that 
Burr sought his hfe, he declared, that, although 
he might meet him, he would not fire at him. 
Whether this declaration ever reached the ears of 
Burr, is unknown ; yet his com'se can only be ac- 
counted for from a feeling either of perfect secmi- 
ty or absolute recklessness. 

Early in June, 1804, Burr addressed a note to 
Hamilton, enclosing a copy of one from Charles 
D. Cooper. The latter stated that both Hamilton 
and Judge Kent concurred in the opinion that 
Burr was " a dangerous man, and one that ought 
not to be trusted with the reins of government ; 
and that he could detail a still more despicable 
opinion which General Hamilton had expressed 
of Colonel Burr." Of the use of any expressions 
which would warrant the assertions of Dr. Coop- 
er, a prompt acknowledgment or denial was de- 
manded. Hamilton saw in this demand a de- 
termination to force him into a duel, and seems to 
have felt the conviction that no step that he could 
take with honour would enable him to avoid it. 
Under these impressions, he called to his councils 
none of those devoted and prudent friends, who 
would have seen that the preservation of his life 
was the most important of all objects. 



332 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

His reply, while it exhibits the injustice of call- 
ing upon him to avow or deny so vague a charge, 
and interrogatories as to the justice of inferences 
drawn by others from what he may have said of 
a political opponent during a competition of fifteen 
years, intimates his willingness to avow or disavow 
any definite opinion which he may be charged with 
having declared. Expressing a trust that Burr 
would see the matter in the same light, the reply 
concludes by saying that, if he does not, " he can 
only regret the circumstances, and must abide the 
consequences." 

The rejoinder of Burr, which was delivered by 
William P. Van Ness, was properly characterized 
by Hamilton as rude and offensive. He therefore 
dechned a reply, and now, for the first time, call- 
ed in his friend Judge Pendleton. This gentle- 
man found that the affair had made such progress 
that it would be difficult for him to bring it to a 
peaceful issue, and, indeed, appeared rather to be 
called in to arrange the terms and time of a com- 
bat than to prevent a hostile meeting. 

At the present day, the nicest casuist in affairs of 
honour would be unable to detect any plausible 
grounds on which Burr could found a claim to 
hold Hamilton responsible ; and even at that day, 
when the pistol was one of the instruments of par- 
ty warfare, it seems almost incredible that a de- 
mand for satisfaction could have been made and 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 333 

acceded to on such slight grounds. The very ex- 
pressions cited and the inferences drawn from them 
were contradictory, as the epithet dangerous was 
incompatible with that of despicable. Hamilton 
was, however, governed by the feelings of a sol- 
dier, not by those of a civilian ; and, with chival- 
ric gallantry, removed the flimsy pretences under 
which Burr veiled his determination to compel 
Hamilton to fight him. 

Such was the openness with which this wSS 
done, that it was for a time attempted to defend 
the conduct of the former on the ground that 
the duel was of Hamilton's seeking. We have, 
however, the recorded evidence of the« struggles 
of Hamilton's mind before he took the step which 
committed him to meet Burr. 

From the paper which he left explanatory of 
his course, it appears that, with perfect conviction 
of the impropriety of duelling, he did not feci 
himself so far elevated above other political men as 
to be emancipated from its absurd laws ; and that 
he believed that, in the existing tone of popular 
feeling on the subject, his future usefulness to his 
country would be destroyed by a refusal to fight. 
It did not occur to him that he w^ho had aided 
Washington in rallying the retreating battalions at 
Monmouth, and had led the forlorn hope at York- 
town, could not be charged with personal coward- 
ice f nor was he aware of the deep rehgious feel- 



334 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ing of a large body of the people, which would 
have supported one who should decline a duel 
from conscientious motives, such as Hamilton sin- 
cerely entertained. In spite of the proud eviden- 
ces of his courage and the growing feeling of re- 
ligion in the community, it would be difficult to 
assert that Hamilton had not formed a proper view 
of the tendency of public opinion. It was his 
own death which first exhibited, in a light too 
strong to be resisted, the fallacy and sophistry of 
the opinions which held that the bloody law of 
honour was a necessary substitute for the deficien- 
cies of the civil code, and the only possible method 
of maintaining the decency of political discussion. 
The professors of religion themselves were not 
unanimous in their belief of the practice of duel- 
ling being contrary to the divine law, and by the 
civil tribunals it was almost sanctioned. Even at 
a recent date, the highest court of one of the most 
religious countries in Europe has by its verdict 
almost sanctioned duelling ; and, when no unfair 
advantages were taken, there had, up to that time, 
been no instance of killing in a duel having been 
treated as a crime. If, therefore, we cannot, on 
grounds of moral and religious principle, offer the 
least defence for the consent of Hamilton to meet 
Burr, we may find strong palliations for his con- 
duct in his military character, and in the absurd 
prejudices of the times in which he lived. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 335 

By Hamilton's desire, the meeting was post- 
poned until the close of a court then sitting in 
New- York. The interval was calmly and steadily 
applied by him to the promotion of the interests 
of his clients ; nor did there appear any failure in 
his accustomed zeal, or any want of the undisturb- 
ed devotion of his mind to the consideration of 
their causes. Yet he must have known that his 
life was in extreme danger. Burr's adroitness in 
the use of the pistol was notorious, and Hamilton 
had good reasons for believing that he would not 
be satisfied but with his blood. 

The meeting took place beneath the cliff of 
Wehawken, and on the first fire Hamilton fell. 
His own pistol was discharged while in the act of 
falling, and obviously without any attempt at aim. 
The wound was not immediately fatal, and he 
was removed across the Hudson to the country- 
seat of his friend William Bayard. Here he lin- 
gered without the least hope of recovery for thir- 
ty hours. His first desire was to receive the con- 
solations which religion alone can afford. His in- 
timate and valued friend, Dr. J. M. Mason, was 
immediately sent for, and to him he expressed the 
sincerity of his behef in the Christian religion, his 
hopes through the atonement by a Saviour, and 
desired to receive the sacrament of the Supper of 
the Lord. The tenets of the sect of which Dr. 
Mason was a preacher forbade that this rite should 



336 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

be administered except at a meeting of the con- 
gregation, and Hamilton therefore apphed for the 
same purpose to Bishop Moore, by whom the sa- 
cred office was performed. 

The anxiety with which he thus sought the sup- 
port of the ordinances of the Christian church was 
founded on no weak and superstitious fears sud- 
denly awakened by the certain approach of death. 
He exhibited all the fortitude of the hero, while 
he manifested the humble reliance of the Chris- 
tian on the merits of the Redeemer alone. Grace- 
ful and dignified as had been his conduct through- 
out his life, no part of it was more fit to be an ex- 
ample than the few hours which intervened be- 
tween his fatal wound and his death. Nor was 
his melancholy end without profit to his country- 
men. From that epoch the duellist has been laid 
in a great degree under the ban of public opin- 
ion in all the Northern states, where an attempt to 
seek redress for real or supposed injuries in single 
combat would be fatal to the hopes of the aspi- 
rant for popular honours. 

His murderer, for many circumstances justify 
that epithet, was visited forthwith by a storm of 
indignation, beneath which he instantly sunk. 
Within a few months he departed, a voluntary 
exile from his country, and abjectly claimed to be 
allowed to avow allegiance to the power against 
whose rule he had successfully fought. On Iiis 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 337 

return he was shunned even by those who had 
been most captivated by his popular arts; and, 
although he resumed his place at the bar, a con- 
scious feeling of disgrace bowed dow^n his talent, 
and placed him in a low rank where he had be- 
fore reigned almost supreme. His history will be 
a beacon by which the aspiring politician may be 
enabled to shun the paths of an unhallowed and 
selfish ambition. 

Hamilton was rather below the middle size, 
and in his youth extremely slender. In more ma- 
ture age his figure assumed a degree of fulness, 
without approaching to corpulency. His eyes 
were blue, and his hair probably a light brown, 
although, in the fashion of the day, it was always 
covered with powder. His bust by Houdon may 
be ranked, in point of manly beauty, mth those of 
the best days of Rome, although wanting in some 
points the ideal regularity which distinguishes 
them. 

His motions were graceful, and the tones of his 
voice agreeable in the highest degree. To these 
natural requisites he added high powers of argu- 
ment, readiness of expression, and simple elegance 
of thought and diction. He thus, as an orator, is 
said to have been pre-eminent even in a country 
so prolific in public speakers. Whether at the 
bar or in the deliberative assembly, he was equally 
distinguished for his commanding eloquence. Am- 
Ff 



338 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

bitious to no little degree, he sought no offices of 
honour and emolument, nor would have accepted 
them except as opportunities of being useful to 
his country. He looked for his recompense in the 
consideration of the virtuous and patriotic of his 
fellow-citizens, or the more sure gratitude of pos- 
terity, not in wealth or the pride of elevated rank, 
"With such disinterested views, each call to the 
public service involved him in pecuniary loss, and 
he gradually contracted a debt of considerable 
amount, which remained unpaid at his decease. 
His appointment as inspector-general in the pro- 
visional army interrupted the growth of a lucra- 
tive professional business, and, at the same time, 
deprived him of the means of meeting the interest 
on large purchases of land which he had entered 
into, in full confidence that his labours as a legal 
man w^ould enable him to hold it. To prevent 
the absolute sacrifice of his landed property, his 
friends and admirers united after his death in a 
subscription, by which his debts were paid, and 
the proceeds of the estate finally reimbursed their 
advances, but left little or no surplus to his family. 
Hamilton's view^s of government and national 
policy wxre founded on the classic authors of 
Greece and Rome, and the works of the great 
men who maintained in England a struggle 
against the royal prerogative. To this he added 
an intimate knowledge of that umvritten cod« 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 339 

which probably took its birth in the fastnesses of 
Caucasus, and acquired its first strength in the 
forests and marshes of Germany, whence by our 
Anglo-Saxon ancestors it was brought into Brit- 
ain. He found this in our own country stripped 
of the feudal features with which the Norman 
conquerors had defaced it, and, with the greater 
part of the actors in the Revolution, sought no 
more than the maintenance of privileges already 
existing as a birthright. To these privileges, com- 
prising the safety of life, liberty, and property, he 
considered every citizen to have a right, unless 
deprived of them as a punishment for crime, and 
independently of the will of his fellows, whether 
they constituted a majority or not. A knowledge 
of the republics of antiquity had shown him that, 
in the absence of such a safeguard, no tyranny 
was ever more oppressive than that exercised in 
the name of the people. Hence he set his face 
against the principles imported from France at the 
breaking out of her revolution, believing that if 
they became the settled policy of the government, 
they would be subversive of individual rights and 
personal liberty. 

With these views, he looked upon the British 
constitution as the noblest monument of human 
wisdom; and while he did not defend its cor- 
ruptions, nor propose its monarchical and aristo- 
cratic features for imitation, he considered it as Sk 



340 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

model after which a permanently free government 
might best be formed. Those who, with the 
French democrats, maintained the unUmited sov- 
ereignty of the majority, have found room for ac- 
cusing him of being in favour of regal power, and 
of wishing to ingraft a house of lords on our in- 
stitutions. With how little reason this accusation 
was made has already been exhibited. 

In the political struggles which succeeded his 
death, the party which was opposed to him tri- 
umphed ; but that very triumph has shown how 
deeply seated were the principles maintained by 
Hamilton in the hearts, if not in the judgment, of 
the American people. However loud may have 
been the tone in which an opposing theory has 
been proclaimed, the practice of the government 
has been, in ahnost all respects, such as Hamilton 
would have himself directed. The public faith 
has been maintained inviolate to the national cred- 
itor ; the executive has acted upon and avowed its 
responsibility ; the independence of the judiciary, 
if threatened, has never been directly assailed; 
the supremacy of the general government has been 
asserted in a proclamation worthy of Hamilton's 
own genius ; an efficient army has been maintain- 
ed in time of peace, and applied to curb a generous 
but mistaken sympathy ; a navy has become the 
favourite institution of the country ; and, except 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 341 

m a single local instance, the natural rights of 
individuals have been held sacred. 

Among his great measures, a National Bank 
was adopted by the successful party ; and if, by 
the errors of its management and the multiplicity 
of state institutions, it has become unpopular, the 
wisdom of his course, and its consistency with the 
letter of the Constitution, has been established by 
judicial decisions and legislative enactments. The 
policy in relation to manufactures, which he fail- 
ed in carrying, has since been for a time adopted ; 
but, although again abandoned, the judgment of 
the public appears to be rapidly resuming a sound 
tone in this respect, when the cotton growers of 
the South shall see that the spinners and weavers 
of the North are inseparably connected with them 
by the ties of a common interest. 

When the angry feelings excited by the long 
struggle between the Federal and Republican par- 
ties shall have cooled, and all the actors in those 
stirring scenes shall have retired from the stage, it 
requires little prescience to predict that Hamilton 
will assume, by general consent, the first place 
among American statesmen, and will be held, in 
the estimate of his patriotic services, as second to 
Washington alone. 



THE END. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




008 816 045 9 



